


Gabriel's Big Mistake

by LilacEnthusiast, Mr_BlackCat



Series: Butterflies and shit [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Absurd premise with potentially serious consequences, Amnesia, Artistic Liberties: Biology, Body Horror, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Karmic Retribution, Mild Blood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, cries in entomology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2019-11-14 16:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 41,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18056507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacEnthusiast/pseuds/LilacEnthusiast, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_BlackCat/pseuds/Mr_BlackCat
Summary: Gabriel makes a bad decision, and it backfires horribly. Shenanigans ensue.





	1. Gabriel Makes a Mess

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta, Mr_BlackCat.  
> Thoughts are written in italics.
> 
> Thank you for choosing to read this byproduct of 2 AM writing binges. I should probably have been sleeping.

The whole world seemed to shatter and twist into something strange and terrifying. He had too many limbs and too many heartbeats pounding in his head as he struggled to process the tastesoundtouch of the surface beneath him. He couldn’t even scream in confusion and terror, as he soon found that he lacked jaws entirely. All he could do was make frantic clicking noises and flutter his damp wings…

…

Wait

...

Flutter?

Wings??

…

FUCK

 

A startled and slightly horrified kwamii watched on as his master flailed about on the ground in his tiny, uncoordinated insect body, unsure of whether he should laugh, cry, or both.

 

————-______________————

 

It had started out as a regular Tuesday, or at least what passed for normal in the Agreste household. Such normal days consisted primarily of awkward silences occasionally broken by the sound of shoes smacking against the impeccably polished floor tiles as one of the residents decided to venture out into the labyrinth of rooms and pale columns. (Some people decide to whip out the masks and the supervillainy and deranged cackling as a way to cope with loss instead of going to therapy or spending time communing with their fellow grieving loved ones.) Things started to get out of hand when Gabriel Agreste, resident fashion mogul and closet supervillain Hawkmoth, decided to make an especially ill advised scheme to get his gloved hands on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous. At this point in time, Gabriel Agreste was glaring at the book sitting on his desk like it had personally insulted him.

“Inadvisable? Dangerous?” he scoffed,”Nooroo, what is this book dithering about? Why is it withholding a method of achieving such power?”

 

The tiny purple kwamii averted his eyes from the imposing human who was demanding something of him without considering things like morality or consequences for the upteenth time. “It is an old and terrible magic,” Noroo sighed,”It can grant great power by tearing the fabric of the universe itself, strengthening the bond between a mortal being and some aspect of a magical place or item. Such practices have… fallen into disuse… due to dangerous side effects should the use of such magic be carried out improperly.”

 

“What sort of side effects?”

 

“Well, are you aware of the story of Io? Perhaps you have heard of the carnage wrought by Hathor, when she became the enraged lioness Sekhmet? Those stories… t-they weren’t just myths and legends. They were botched attempts made by people trying to enhance a Miraculous or similar artifact in order to gain the upper hand in mortal affairs.”

 

“Surely I will not make the same mistakes as people who died centuries ago, for I am far too clever and I have knowledge and precision that they surely did not have.” “Oh, how your hubris will be your downfall, master.” Nooroo muttered under his breath, trying desperately to hide the trembling in his limbs. The magical being took a deep breath, steeled himself against what was to come, and begin describing the steps one needed to take to access the magic needed create a little break in reality.

 

————-______________————

 

A few hours and a few gallons of ink later, the secret atrium had a ridiculously elaborate ritual circle impeccably painted on its floor. The room was also bedecked in candles, a couple pounds of salt, and various assorted minerals and herbs. One Gabriel Agreste was standing at the center of it all with a rather large and ornate dagger in his hand. His hand tightened almost imperceptibly around the blade as he began chanting in a long dead and forgotten language. Words spilled from his mouth with greater urgency, as the air around him began to thrum with a wild magical energy. The stone tiles seemed to throb with some unseen heartbeat. The ink lines writhed and twisted like many ravenous snakes, and the air sung with magic. Gabriel brought the blade down, as if he was striking some unseen object. Suddenly, the rhythm stopped, and the song became a scream of rage and terror. A gaping wound appeared in the air where the blade had struck, bleeding a thick substance that resembled multi-colored oil leaks left on pavement by cars. Gabriel fought the urge to vomit as he gripped the edge of the tear, and tried to pry it further open. He hesitated, for only a moment, upon gazing at the unspeakable things held inside. His mind tried desperately to process what he was seeing. That moment of hesitation was enough for something within to grab his wrist. Its many eyes turned towards where Gabriel’s Miraculous sat on his chest.

 

It smiled.

It spoke.

Something broke.

Gabriel thought he could hear someone screaming.

_Is that my own voice?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference:
> 
> Io: According to ancient Greek myth, she was a woman who became one of Zeus’ mistresses. Zeus turned her into a cow to avoid Hera catching on to their affair. Hera, seeing through Zeus’ trickery, decides to get revenge by treating the transformed Io like an actual cow and later summoning insects to torment her.
> 
> Sekhmet: An alternate form of the Egyptian love goddess, Hathor. She was transformed into a ferocious (and literally bloodthirsty) lion, who terrorized humanity until she was tricked into drinking beer/wine disguised as blood. Afterwards, she became too drunk to continue killing and was transformed back into her original state.


	2. Gabriel Writes a Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Butterflies sure are weird. Yeet

_ Am I dead?  _

 

After a good few minutes of mindless panicking. Gabriel Agreste tried to make sense of his surroundings and his current state. A few moments of contemplating his heartbeats (what?) and the fact that he seemed to be taking in air in some fashion assured him that he was, in fact, very much alive. He felt like he had giant misshapen manila folders fused to his back, or at least where his back should be. If he tilted his head “just so” he could make out two dark blobs with yellow edges and what appeared to be purple spots. 

 

_ Wings… Alright.. I have wings… This is an interesting development. Yes, that’s right. It is just another interesting development in my life. No need to panic further, Gabriel, nooooo sir. _

 

Gabriel then attempted to stand and was met with the obstacle that was an extra pair of legs and the fact that his new body was not built for a bipedal stance. After taking far longer than he’s ever like to admit, Gabriel managed to stand and take his first few steps as a new man.. erm… insect. He wandered to the towering shape that smells vaguely of the cologne he applied that morning, blood, and other unmentionable substances. His antennae twitched in irritation.

 

_ Is that my suit that I was wearing earlier? It is?! I spent hours designing and tailoring the damn thing. My perfectly good suit is ruined! This scenario just keeps getting worse and worse! If it turns out that whatever insect I’ve been turned into is in fact some sort of butterfly or moth, I will find some way to akumatize whatever higher power decided to do this to me! _

 

The, now quite diminutive, supervillain and designer continued to rant silently for quite a while, gesticulating dramatically at no one in particular. He found that his extra limbs had granted him the ability to do even more “sinister hand-wringing” even if he technically didn’t have hands. All the while, a certain kwamii was trying to make himself scarce, occasionally muttering to himself about how “master has really done it this time” and “he’s really fallen off the deep end, hasn’t he?”. Once a certain villainous insect came down from the fervor he had worked himself into, he suddenly was hit with the realization that he could not normally function in this state and that he might actually be stuck in bite-size bug form for the rest of his days.

 

_ I need to find a way to turn back, but how? I’m sure I could come up with some brilliant scheme, but that takes time… Perhaps I should write a letter to Nathalie explaining my predicament. She could make sure I don’t get stepped on or eaten in the meantime.  _

 

————-______________————

 

So, off Gabriel unsteadily flew, looking like a poorly constructed paper airplane. The journey to his desk was perilous, but he finally made it. Any attempts to lift the titanic, metal screen of the laptop would likely result in severed or broken limbs, and were thus, dismissed as possibilities in Gabriel’s mind. He gleefully reached for a pen that was sitting on the desk before remembering that he didn’t have fingers to hold a pen with. After some thought, he decided to grasp the writing implement between his forelegs. He managed to eke out the letters “h” and “e” before giving up on that method. The strain was too much for his tiny, uncoordinated limbs to bear. Further contemplation lead to him dipping his limbs into some spare ink, which tasted and felt rather disgusting against his legs. Thus began the long, but slightly less arduous than before, process of writing his letter requesting help. He labored over the piece of paper, carefully trying to trace letters. The resulting message was at least legible enough for someone to realize there were words written down, and maybe even decipher a few if they concentrated hard enough. What could be discerned from the smears and generally awful penmanship went like this:

 

“He/f Noihlke, I onn stvgk as a bvtterffy. Need he\f io tvrm bacf amd siay saEe!”

  
Needless to say, the letter looked like it was either written by a borderline illiterate and woefully uncoordinated child or a severely intoxicated adult who might be in the process of having a minor stroke. Gabriel, sadly, could not discern the quality of his writing, as the letters on the page and any objects that appeared to be smaller than his wingspan (either due to distance or size) were too blurry to make out. Ink had been splattered quite liberally across both the paper and Gabriel’s forelegs and thorax, leaving the fur on said locations a sticky, matted mess. Suppressing the sudden urge to go find a random puddle on the street outside to cool off in or take a drink from ( _ I have dignity, dammit!).  _ Gabriel decided to find a place to perch and display his wings to defend his territory and attract a ma-( _ no, I’ll sit like a normal person) _ until help arrived or until he was well rested enough to think of more efficient ways to get help.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Butterfly!Gabriel most closely resembles Camberwell Beauty/Mourning Cloak butterflies in size and color scheme.


	3. Gabriel makes Acquaintances

Sunset in Paris that evening was like a cup of warm tea. Spring blooms mixed with the acrid smell of petroleum to give the air an oddly bittersweet flavor. The buildings drifting lazily in the amber half-light like sugar cubes carefully added to the concoction.

 

The, now insect shaped, head of the Agreste fashion company was left blearily watching this scene, not fully aware of time passing. He felt lethargy overtake him, supplanting his desire to keep watch or think up new ways to handle his predicament. This ceased to be his primary concern when a particularly hungry bird decided to make him dinner and dive-bombed him through an open window in his study.

 

 Gabriel, shocked out of his stupor by the sensation of talons tearing at his wings and a ravenous beak trying to snap him up, panicked. Furiously beating his wings, he freed himself from the bird’s grasp and reared up on his hind legs. He clumsily flitted about the room, avoiding the bird and eventually making a break for the window. He fled with torn wings and battered pride, clicking furiously in hopes of warding off further advances from the bird and other predators.

 

He struggled to stay aloft, stubbornly ignoring the throbbing pain in his back and the blue liquid* oozing from the base of his severed antenna and down his face. Eventually, a bench-shaped blob appeared in his line of sight. Nearly running into the bench’s occupant, Gabriel plummeted towards the bench. The teen sitting on the bench let out a yelp, when the butterfly nearly smacked right into his face.

 

“Woah, little dude! Are you ok? You really spooked me! You look an awful lot like an akuma, and those are real freaky, man. Well, it’s more like akumas resemble butterflies….”

 

_Wait… Isn’t this the child that insisted on some asinine party for Adrien’s birthday a few months ago? Nico? Nazeem? Nemo? Nemo sounds about right… My head feels rather strange and I think my legs are starting to go numb. Wait, can an insect get lightheaded? How did I end up like this, bleeding out in the body of, presumably, a butterfly while some teenager blabbers on about some nonsense?!_

 

“... and that’s when I was like,’woah dude, that’s like totally uncool.’ Man, you don’t look so good. How about I bring you home with me and fix you up?,” Nino ( _Nemo_ ) said, noticing the tiny butterfly’s sorry state. Torn, trembling wings drooped like wet tissue paper and a half-dried mixture of blue and black fluid turned the fuzz on the butterfly’s body into a stiff, sticky mess. One of his antennae seemed to be missing entirely.

 

Nino reached into his bag and pulled out a spare tissue and an empty water bottle with a wider opening. He gently slid the tissue under Gabriel legs and quickly placed the bottle over the butterfly, creating a temporary enclosure.

 

_No! Let me out of here this instant!_

 

Nino carefully picked up the improvised container along with his bag, and started making his way back to his home.

 

————-______________————

 

_I object to this humiliation! This is an affront against my dignity!_ Gabriel mentally cried in indignation as Nino tried to clean him off with a damp Q-tip. _I am capable of handling my own hygiene!_

 

Gabriel weakly tried to move out of the way of the offending cottony implement. He stubbornly  attempted to “escape” until he was thwarted by a metal coat hanger and a pair of tweezers. All the while, Nino attempted to make comforting statements in some futile attempt to soothe the irate insect generally consisting of things like “shhhhh, little dude, I’m not gonna hurt you” and “the Q-tip is your friend, bro”. Despite being unable to speak, Gabriel tried to telegraph the sentiment that the _(thrice damned_ ) Q-tip was not his friend and that it was, in fact, now his ( _mortal enemy)._

  


After what seemed like forever, Gabriel felt the weight of the piece of coat hanger leave his body. He slumped over in relief, thoroughly exhausted by his ( _valiant)_ attempts at escaping cottony doom. During the time it took for him to regain his bearings, Nino had left the room and returned with some slightly wilted flowers, orange slices that looked to be past their prime, and a damp paper towel laid out on a brightly colored dinner plate.

 

“Hey, little dude, it’s snack time! My parents let me borrow some old fruit they were going to throw away and my baby bro let me soak this paper towel in his fruit punch!”

 

The teen gently lifted the butterfly off of the bathroom counter, which now had blue and black smears, and placed the squirming bug onto the damp paper towel. Nino gave an encouraging smile, Gabriel was not encouraged in the slightest.

 

A cloyingly sweet fragrance and flavor hit Gabriel’s feet, and at that moment apple juice and mushy oranges seemed more appealing than a meal cooked by the finest chefs in all of Paris. _Preposterous! I can’t actually be wanting to eat this disgusting concoction! It would rot my tee- oh, right. Well it would be below me to eat anything as delicio- I mean, disgusting as rotting fruit!_

 

Alas, his protests were for naught, as his proboscis* had already started to move of its own accord towards the paper towel. When Gabriel became aware of his own unconscious reaction to sugary fluids and old fruit, he balked and tried to pull the tube-like appendage away. Nino quickly noticed that the “little dude” seemed to be having trouble eating and tried to gently move Gabriel’s proboscis back towards the paper towel with a toothpick. ( _No!)_ Gabriel exclaimed mentally, attempting to bat the toothpick away with his fuzzy little arms. The force from the shove was too weak to throw the wooden implement off of its course, and the tip of the proboscis was soon unspooled and making contact with the damp, sugary surface of the paper. Instinctively, the muscles in the proboscis started sucking up the sweet juice from the towel, which felt like a combination of drinking something through a straw and swallowing a large bite of food. As Gabriel drank, his limbs trembled less and less and a gnawing hunger he hadn’t quite registered beforehand was sated. In order to get further relief, he begrudgingly hobbled to the oranges and started drinking their juices as well.

  


Having drunk his fill, Gabriel finally gave in to exhaustion. As he felt unconsciousness overtake him, he wondered ( _How long have I been awake for, anyways?)_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Butterflies (and many invertebrates) have a substance called hemolymph rather than blood, which usually has some shade of blue when making contact with air
> 
> *The proboscis is a long appendage that a butterfly uses to suck up fluids for consumption, as they do not have an articulated mouth.


	4. Gabriel Sees the Light

Gabriel was greeted by an oddly comforting warmth when he awoke, and splayed out his wings in order to soak in as much as possible. ( _Oh, this is heavenly)_ He clicked and chirped with satisfaction, barely maintaining enough restraint to keep from giddily wiggling around like a buffoon.

 

_Enough of this! I can’t spend all my time basking the glorious light, hnnnggg so warm. No! I must resist! I need to find a way back home, and I have to find a way to turn back. There is no way I can continue living like this, constantly at the mercy of others and unable to pursue, much less obtain any Miraculous, Hell, I probably won’t even be able to pick one up with these feeble little arms if it was literally handed to me!_

 

He tried to make out his surrounding, and found that the glorious heat was radiating from a large, clear  surface that appeared to be a window. The surface beneath him tasted like leaves and cardboard, as did the short barrier that he could put his forelegs over if he stood on his hind legs. Gabriel was fairly sure that one of the colorful shapes was and that various misshapen blobs strewn on the floor and a vaguely chair-shaped object were clothes and whatever toys or devices that ( _teenagers entertain themselves with, these days)._ Also of note, was the fact that standing and walking not just on his hind legs, but all his limbs, was noticeably more difficult. The chitin in areas where the bird had managed to strike him felt tight and fragile. Whenever he made to take a step, he found he couldn’t balance properly. He frequently ended up accidentally swerving or heavily favoring the side of his broken antenna. A few experimental flaps of his wings confirmed that flight was out of the question. The delicate membranes were too tattered to provide adequate lift. Gabriel was quite certain that if he had any significant sensation in his wings, he would be in agony every time he flapped them a little too hard.

 

_I can’t even make my way out of this room on my own, much less navigate the streets and skies of Paris. I-I can’t lose hope. I’ll just have to devise an ingenious plan to get someone else to transport me. Yes, I’ll find a way to get Nemo to take me to school or some outing with his friends. If Adrien is there, then I can slip into his bag while no one is watching. Then, when he goes back home, I’ll be back at the mansion! I’ll... um... I’ll figure out the rest when I get there…_

 

————-______________————

 

Gabriel spends the next few hours scheming and trying to compensate for his damaged antenna. Some small part of him is bothered by the fact that he now sees walking a few steps without falling flat on his face an achievement. He also practices winding and unwinding his proboscis.

 

The movement and control of the muscles involved is rather alien and jarring to him. Hell, his whole body still feels dissonant and alien. He wasn’t sure how he was breathing, and he dreaded finding out how other aspects of his new body worked. Gabriel felt terribly vulnerable whenever he thought to hard about his current state. At some moments his mind would go down the rabbit hole far enough to consider what would have happened if the bird ate him or if he perished in this form later. Terror sat heavy in his gut at the thought of his own mortality, and no one ever being able to find or identify his body. He would fail. He would die alone and anonymous, indirectly condemning Emilie to eternal slumber.

 

Gabriel’s thoughts continued to spiral. He thought of how he’d become just another tragedy for the tabloid vultures to pick and peck at for a few month. How many dead ends would it take before his case declared closed and everyone assumed he was dead? How long before Adrien had to bury and empty coffin? How much time would it take for death to grab Gabriel in its inescapable clutches? Did he have the lifespan of a butterfly or did he retain his human one? Would he take too long return to human form and die of old age before Adrien’s sixteenth birthday?

 

Nino returned from school and made his way to his room during Gabriel’s mental downward spiral into panic and despair. Gabriel, at this point, closely resembled a leaf at the mercy of a bitter wind. His form was crumpled in on itself and he trembled, gazing wide-eyed into the middle-distance.

 

_“_ Oh no, dude! Are you sick? Hungry? Scared? Don’t die on me, little dude!”

 

Nino rushed to get something for his new “pet” to eat. He frantically got some fruit, paper towels soaked in sugary beverages, a toothpick, and a bottle cap full of warm water.

 

When feeding the butterfly didn’t seem to stop the concerning behavior, Nino had to think of other potential sources of the insect’s distress. He deduced that some sort of sickness was unlikely and probably untreatable with his current abilities. Eventually Nino decided that he needed to comfort the butterfly and help his new friend overcome whatever was stressing it out so much.

 

“Did you, um, have a nightmare, little dude? Wait, can butterflies even have nightmares? Would they be about getting eaten by predators? Are you having nightmares about whatever injured you yesterday? It must be really scary waking up in a strange new place. I remember being a little freaked out at my first sleepover, and I wasn’t dealing with nearly getting eaten, or something. Maybe I can give you some nice pets, little dude! Animals like getting pet, right? Well, I’ll probably have to be really careful or use some tool, because I don’t want to accidentally crush you with an overpowered head-pat…”

 

Gabriel recoiled and proceeded to panic more intensely than before, trying to hide under the ( _delicio- disgustingly_ ) sugary and damp paper towel. He most certainly did not want to die by inadequately gentle head-pat.

 

“I’m sure I can be careful, little dude! You can trust you new friend, Nino!”

 

_Wait… his name isn’t Nemo?_

 

Nino gently picked up the thoroughly distressed butterfly, and began gently patting Gabriel’s tiny head this his index finger.

 

“There, there, little buddy. I’m gonna protect you from big, scary animals and car windshields. No one can hurt you here, dude, I’ve totally got your back as your new buddy.”

 

_We are most certainly not buddies! I barely know you! How dare you assume that my fears are so trivial as to be assuaged by a mere child! These head pats may be… urgh… oddly comforting, but I resent them! Resent them, I say!_

 

Gabriel gestured with his forelegs melodramatically, as he “spoke”. Nino, of course, barely saw and appreciated the performance.

 

“Awwww, you’re so cute, little dude! Who’s the prettiest butterfly in the world? You are! Oh yes you are! Do you want a belly ruuuuuub?”

 

_While I am most certainly magnificent and obviously superior to other butterflies, I am most certainly not cute! Wait, belly rub?_

 

It was too late for Gabriel to react, as Nino had already started gently patting the pompous butterfly’s fluffy thorax. Gabriel’s purple body started shaking with silent laughter. He never expected to be tickled into submission, and tried to reign vengeance upon Nino by lightly smacking the offending fingers.

 

_If you will not notice my fearsomeness, then I will find a way-hehehee- to control you through my “cuteness”. The thought of being seen cute fills me with disgust, but it is- hhehe- obvious that no one will give take me seriously or give me proper respect while I-hahahahahahaeeheh. Stop that ,will you!!!??! Yessssss no one will be able  to resist the thrall of my “cuteness”, not even someone as strong willed as you Nem- uh, Nino whateveryourlastnameis!_

 

“You already look so much better, little dude! Y’know, I can’t just call you ‘little dude’ or ‘little buddy’ forever… You need a name that shows how totally cool you are, and how you, like aren’t like every other butterfly… How about I call you Subwoofer? I’m also considering Bass Drop, but I personally think that Subwoofer…is just… cooler. I can even nickname you Subbie!”

 

_That’s… awful… If you ever have children, I hope you are allowed have as little input as possible in naming them. Oh well, at least I didn’t end up being found by someone who pulls off bug wings for fun or someone who would want to study me… I’m pretty sure I don’t look quite like a normal butterfly… None of my akumas were quite as large as I am now._

 

He was also pretty sure that the combination of his eye color and the color of most of the fur on his legs and thorax, which closely resembled his hair and eye color as a human ( _I guess some things stay consistent)_ , did not naturally occur in whatever species he was supposed to be. Gabriel, in that moment, secretly wished that he’d researched butterflies more.

 

At some point during Gabriel’s little tangent, Nino had placed him back into his makeshift home on top of a small mound of cotton balls and slightly wilted leaves. Nino placed a heavy textbook and some papers on his desk, whipped out a pencil, and put on his headphones.

 

Gabriel let himself sink into the cottony pile and spread out his wings. He let himself enjoy the heat of the sunlight streaming through the window, which did wonders for his wings and back muscles. It seemed that being cold blooded and deriving greater pleasure and comfort from warmth was the only thing he could enjoy about his current predicament.

 

————-______________————

 

The next few days fell into a bit of a routine for Gabriel. Nino would always bring him food and check on him in the morning before heading off to school. Gabriel would then attempt to occupy himself while the teenager was at school with scheming and attempting to re-learn how to walk.

 

He found that if he remained mentally inactive for long stretches of time his butterfly instincts would take over. There were far too many instances where he suddenly found himself thoroughly occupied with anything colorful and/or sugary ( _Color sugar flower fruit need food sugar sweet nectar)_ or, even worse, attempting to claim Ninos room as his territory and attract a mate ( _high place safe from birds and ground-beasts easily seen easily hidden)._ Gabriel was filled by a greater sense of worry and urgency regarding his current state and how he should escape from it.

 

He dreaded the thought of being unable to control himself, enslaved by the instincts of his new body, or the thought of his mind and sense of self being permanently warped by his transformation. _Didn’t I hate most sugary foods, before? What else has changed about me since I transformed that I’m not aware of?_

 

Even when he tried to distract himself and exercised his willpower to the best of his abilities, Gabriel still had to deal with strange and, at times, intrusive thoughts and desires. Whenever he tried and failed to do more than hover or glide for a few seconds, he felt a sense of melancholy and a painful tightness in his thorax. It was almost as if some wonderful part of his life had been stolen from him before he even had a chance to appreciate it. Perhaps a part of his butterfly subconscious was mourning the loss of the simple joys of soaring through the air on autumn evenings, feeling the wind in his antennae as he migrated to warm forests and meadows to drink and hibernate with his fellow butterflies. He would never engage in aerial dances and displays, feeling that sense of companionship with and admiration from other butterflies as he twisted and twirled about. It was oddly sobering, to be reminded of how trapped he was and restricted from what should be considered normal behavior and social interaction by butterfly standards.

 

When Gabriel was not grappling with “ _those damned butterfly feelings”_ and whatever activities he engaged in during his few hours of privacy _,_ he was dealing with the resident teenager and, on occasion, the child’s relatives. He had difficulty making out their faces due to them rarely getting close enough to him for their faces to look like more than blurry messes with differently colored blotches where he presumes their eyes and mouths would be. Nino seemed to regularly help his younger sibling with homework and play “totally cool games” with them on a regular basis. Nino also appeared to converse with his parent( _s?_ ) and even go so far as to hug them on an almost daily basis. The open and frequent displays of affection between Nino and his family members confused Gabriel, giving him uncomfortable and vague, guilt-adjacent feelings. Nino even mentioned bringing his new pet ( _so demeaning_ ) to dinner and family outings to an adult when the “little dude” was well enough to handle the stress of a new environment and unfamiliar people ( _I am no coward!)_ . Apparently the teen was very invested in making sure “Subwoofer” ( _retching, but, you know, mentally)_ didn’t feel lonely or left out and was trying to come up with a safe way to transport the butterfly.

 

Nino also tasked himself with regularly cleaning out “Subwoofer’s” habitat and the insect himself. Gabriel, at first, was vehemently against these actions and tried to do everything in his power to prevent what he considered a personal affront to his dignity and an underestimation of his cleanliness. There was much angry clicking, wing flaring, and attempts at shoving away hands of well-intentioned youths. Gabriel eventually relented when he realized he new next to nothing about butterfly hygiene or personal maintenance. He did not know how to swim or where he breathed from, so attempting to wash off in a shallow dish of water without some assistance posed too great a risk for drowning. When his habitat started smelling and tasting rather unpleasant under his feet and his fuzz began to get matted and discolored, he finally relented, albeit begrudgingly and with a lot of mental grumbling and complaining.

  
  



	5. Gabriel Hits the Books

_ I have no mouth, and I must scream. _

 

“... and so Alya, like the totally awesome girl that she is, remembered that mRNA does transcription and tRNA does translation! Like woah, dude, I’d totally forgotten that there was different kinds of RNA!”

 

_ I do not care about your homework or your girlfriend! Seriously, it’s 1 AM on a Tuesday!  _

 

Gabriel’s intact antenna twitched irritably and he attempted to cross his forelimbs in an attempt to express his defiance and vexation and being a captive audience to “ _ vapid teenage issues”.  _ He let out an alarmed chirp when he fell flat on his face. If he still had a mouth, he would have been scowling.

 

“Awww, is someone tired and cranky?”

 

_ Cranky?! CRANKY?! Cranky is the understatement of the century!! Unless I find a way to undo this awful curse, or whatever the hell it is my life is ruined! I have to taste with my feet now! Do you know how disgusting that is? I have slurp up all my food like my mouth has been replaced by a fucking silly straw! My already godawful eyesight is even worse thanks to my stupid butterfly eyes only being adapted to find the most colorful butterfly or plant shaped objects in my general vicinity! My joints ache and anything colder than a slight chill is enough to make me pass out! I can’t call on akumas to help me because clothing items, including my Miraculous, were not part of this fucking awful transformation. The fucking gemstone alone is probably as big as my head! It could probably snap my tiny neck if it was dropped on me from an appropriate height. You can’t even understand me right now! Do you know how maddening it is to be so incapable of basic communication?! I can’t speak or write! I can’t even really rely on body language!  _

 

Gabriel stomped his tiny legs like a toddler throwing their most impressively explosive tantrum. His chirping and clicking grew louder and more agitated as his tirade went on. Nino promptly picked Gabriel up by his wings, keeping his grip firm but gentle to avoid further damaging the membranes or tiny scales. Gabriel flailed his limbs impotently for a few more moments before the teen placed him on an unfamiliar object. The object appeared to be a thin wooden disk rimmed with a rumpled, gauzy material that had strips of fabric sewn to it.  

 

Nino pulled upwards on the fabric strips, and the gauzy material followed. Some supports inside the material made a slight snapping sound as their joints locked into place, creating a rigid framework that the mesh hung from. The gauzy mesh now formed a soft, cylindrical wall sound Gabriel, who was now fluttering in surprise.

 

“I thought this surprise might cheer you up, little dude. My mom helped me make this really cool portable habitat! She even helped me embroider Subwoofer onto one of the straps! Not being able to get around with your torn wings must be a massive bummer, so hopefully I can take you with me places! It’s probably not the same as flying, but you’ll get some fresh air and fun!”

 

_ Fresh air? Fun? Ha! More like I’m getting one step closer escaping this hellish existence and returning to normal life! _

 

Gabriel was in denial about the fact that his idea of a normal life had become regularly attempting to outsmart two teenagers while wearing a shiny, silver luchador mask. He was, frankly, too caught up in his scheming to develop any sense of self-awareness or use this arduous experience as the “writing on the wall” telling him that he should stop throwing magic (specifically, magical butterflies) at all of his problems.

 

Nino prattled on for a few minutes longer, and finally went to bed. Gabriel, oblivious to the teen, continued to plan his “ _ great escape”.  _ He continued to monologue his schemes at the leaves littering his new habitat until the rosy light of dawn spilled into the room, painting it in light and color.

 

Eventually, Gabriel was shaken out of his little rant and plan party by Nino picking up the portable habitat. The teen hastily tried to wolf down some toast and fruit while rushing out to his parents’ car, dazed and sleep-deprived butterfly in-tow. To Gabriel’s dismay, his habitat had been placed alarmingly close to the car’s internal speakers and Nino’s family decided it was the teen’s turn to pick the music played in the car on the way to school or work.

 

By the time Nino was dropped off at school, Gabriel was fairly certain his ears would have been bleeding, well if he’d still had actual ears*. 

 

_ Ahhhh, the hell-scape that is high school. I’d hoped that I’d never have to return to such an awful place, but it is a necessity. I must endure this wasteland of hormones and suffering for the greater good! _

 

“Hey, Nino, did you understand the reading we had to do last night?”

 

“Define understand, my dude, all I got was that Gregor* has some serious issues…”

 

“But like, was the whole bug thing a metaphor for his insecurities or something? Eurgh, anyways, what’s that container you’re carrying? Is it that project you’ve been going on about?”

 

“Yeah, dude, I’m finally able to take my little buddy, Subwoofer, out on a trip. He must have been getting, like, super bored sitting in my room all day.”

 

_ I handled it just fine, idiots. _

 

“I’m still kinda hung up on Subwoofer, like really? You couldn’t have named the butterfly Flutter or Violet or something? If he had a brain bigger than a pea and a grasp of human speech he’d probably feel pretty offended.”

 

_ Oh, you have no idea. Hell, I’m offended right now by your insinuating that I am merely a stupid animal! _

 

“O o f, you’re murdering me, dude. 

 

————-______________————

 

Gabriel glared at the truly formidable obstacle that was the mesh wall. He gathered his courage and leapt onto it, using his feet to hold onto the fabric with all his might. Slowly, he crawled upwards, making sure he did not lose his balance or grip, lest he fall and be forced to start all over again. After several arduous minutes of climbing, Gabriel managed to make it to the top of the mesh barrier. 

 

He spread his wings and used the intact sections of their membranes to glide down to the floor, landing next to Nino’s backpack. The floor spread out before him as a seemingly endless expanse of scuffed tile. It was then he realized how difficult it would be to identify which bag belonged to Adrien. His terrible eyesight made picking out Adrien’s face nearly impossible, and he couldn’t identify Adrien by the sound of his voice due to the teacher being the only person in the room speaking. Gabriel cursed his own lack of foresight in not paying attention to where Adrien sat when the students were conversing before class, having zoned out mere moments into Nino trying to introduce his new “pet” to the other students the teen seemed to be on good terms with.

 

After a few moments of dithering on what to do about his current situation, Gabriel decided to make a gamble and try to climb into the bag of the nearest blonde student he could see. He tried to make his way to the bag as stealthily as possible.  _ Adrien’s bag is black and white, right?  _

 

Just before Gabriel managed to reach the bag, he heard a shrill scream. In the moment Gabriel took hesitating at the alarming sound, he felt a sudden crushing pain. There was a sickening crack as approximately 12 ounces of assigned reading collided with his tiny body. He a voice cry out, “Chloe! No,” but it sounded muted and distant, like the person was screaming from two rooms over. Everything seemed distant and disjointed in that moment. Gabriel barely registered the alarming amount of blue splattered on the floor around him, the frantic muttering, the hands gingerly lifting him from the floor. Everything went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *butterflies hear by sensing vibrations with their wings  
> *"The Metamorphosis", by Franz Kafka, a story where a man named Gregor gets turned into a giant bug. (Subtlety whomst? Let’s just hope Gabriel doesn’t meet the same sticky and tragic end as this novel’s protagonist.)


	6. An Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Mr_BlackCat for writing portions of this Interlude!

 

Marinette gets Swol

 

Marinette felt like a string pulled taught, and she was worried that she would snap or fray from the tension. Each day that passed without an akuma attack was like another turn on the metaphorical rack. Each day brought a little more to the flurries of theories and fears flitting about her head at record time. 

 

There was rarely more than a week or so between akuma attacks. Marinette was fairly certain that the absence was nearing the three week mark. Marinette kept a vigilant eye out, expecting to see an akuma around every corner. Each time she saw a student get upset over a subpar grade or accidentally dropping something or complaining about Chloe getting up to her usual antics,

Marinette flinched ever so slightly. Each time she silently anticipated the approach of one the eerie little butterflies commandeered by Hawkmoth. Each time the creatures failed to show their unnerving wings, which always seemed to emit a “strange glow

 

It was the glow not of the youthful star that granted life to the little creatures that basked in its radiance, but instead it was of far cold-things that wandered the distant void. The tragic little insects were forced to bear fragments of the terrible unspoken things, radiating malice and insatiable hunger, perverted and twisted into shells of themselves. Tikki had, on occasion, wept for them. She had said that they were supposed to be like little moons, reflecting the radiant light of the stars so that mortals might partake in the gifts offered by their radiance in nights when the loving embrace of their life-giver seemed distant. 

 

Things had become quiet, too quiet. Hawkmoth must be planning something big, she assumed. His time must be occupied by setting up some complex, nefarious scheme to steal her and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

 

Marinette threw herself into training to make sure that she was prepared for whatever the villain threw at her. Every hour that was not spent doing schoolwork or socializing with her friends and family was spent patrolling, studying under Master Fu, and working out at a local gym. She took every self-defense or combative athletic class she could conceivably sign up for in Paris, so she could more easily subdue akumas and possibly the bad biscuit, himself. Soon enough, Marinette would be able to take down full-grown adults with her bare hands. If she had to, she would personally suplex Hawkmoth and body slam him into the nearest dumpster, or police custody, whichever was most convenient.

 

————-______________————

 

Nathalie Needs a Vacation

 

Nathalie clung to the cup of coffee like a lifeline. The bitter flavor of the caffeinated beverage lingered in the back of her throat as she went through her morning routine. She picked out an impeccably washed and pressed blazer to match her slacks. Alternating between finishing off her coffee and eating a bowl of yogurt, Nathalie brushed any remaining knots out of her hair and tied the locks into a tight bun. 

 

Before she left her apartment she did one last inspection, ensuring that she was perfectly prepared for work. She had triple-checked her bag for her keys, phone, pens, and any other necessary supplies. Not a hair was out of place and her clothes were wholly unmarred by dust, lint, or wrinkles. 

 

She went down the same route she took every morning to get to the Agreste mansion. The mansion loomed lifelessly over her like the bleached bones of some giant corpse. Upon reaching the pale, imposing building, Nathalie used her spare key to open the ornate doors to the mansion. An oppressive silence followed her as she made her way through a maze of rooms. Each room had furniture and tasteful decorations, but felt uninhabited like a dollhouse or a poorly constructed set for a show. Imitations of life, of a home, and nothing more. 

 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Nathalie had made her way to her desk and began slogging through paperwork. After a few hours of toiling over paper and ink, Nathalie began to feel a throbbing pressure building up in the back of her skull. Suppressing a sigh, Nathalie pushed away from her desk and pulled a water bottle and pulled out a tidy, pre-prepared snack. She knew the kitchen staff would likely not be done making any substantial food for lunch for another hour or so, and making a trip to the kitchens and back for some leftover salad or a slightly stale bagel would be a waste of time and effort when they’d have something filling prepared soon enough. 

 

Upon finishing her food and drink, Nathalie decided to move any relevant paperwork to Gabriel’s desk for him to review when he wasn’t “conducting business” or, well, actually conducting business. Nathalie suppressed a sigh when she saw that Gabriel was not in his office, and assumed that he was once again hiding away in his “lair” doing something that was potentially dangerous, stupid, or both. Some small part of Nathalie couldn’t help but worry about what would happen to Adrien should that man do something phenomenally stupid enough to result in his injury or death. 

 

_ The boy was already dealing with the loss of his mother, after all, and losing another parent (well, more than he already had) would likely be devastating _ . _ Not to mention the absolute publicity clusterfuck that would result from a major public figure getting blown to smithereens or breaking most of the bones in his body after “accidentally tripping” and falling off a tall building. _

 

As Nathalie unceremoniously dropped a stack of papers and stiffly stalked out of the room, she failed to notice an innocent little piece of paper that had been knocked off the desk by the vibrations caused by the leaning tower of bureaucratic bullshit that had been deposited nearby. It drifted into the trash-can nearby, looking to a casual observer like just another note discarded due to some error. 

 

Nathalie plunked back down into her chair, adjusted her glasses, and went back to work with a slight huff. It was just another day for her, working in a big empty house and ignoring the tiny ache in her heart whenever her thoughts lingered for too long on the states of its inhabitants.

 

————-______________————

 

Pigeon Man Passes it on

 

_ A fine afternoon for feeding the pigeons  _ thought Xavier Ramier, sitting at a park bench.  _ At least here I can feed my lovelies _ . Even after being akumatized into Mr. Pigeon, an experience which he had no direct memories of, he still loved those beautiful birds. His life had spiraled downward after seeing how the people of Paris were terrified of his sweet birds. Xavier had been depressed and could barely get out of bed to work for money to fund his vices.  _ Luckily my friends pointed me towards- _

 

A loud noise interrupted Xavier’s thoughts and he turned towards the source of the sound. On the other side of the park, he could see a teenager standing there as a young child ran towards their mother crying. Recognizing the teenager as a victim of Hawkmoth, who as a supervillain had stolen all the children’s toys in Paris, he got up and walked over. 

 

Upon reaching the teen, he took a card out of his suit pocket. “Here,” said Xavier, placing the card in the teen’s hands, “AA got me through some rough patches and now I’m able to enjoy time with my friends again. Think about it.” He turned around and went back to his own bench. Luckily his friends were still there, waiting for him. “It’s a fine day,” Xavier said contently looking around at the pigeons, “A fine day indeed.”

 

————-______________————

 

A Vaguely Ominous Cliffhanger

 

After seeing his Master turned into an insect through the power of the Miraculous, Nooroo felt lost. Should he wait in this ridiculous hideout? Or should he try to find the current owner of the Turtle Miraculous? Lost in his thoughts, Nooroo didn’t hear the approaching footsteps until it was too late.

 


	7. Gabriel Reaches a Tipping Point

Gabriel had been crushed, literally and figuratively, by his failure to execute his plan. Consciousness came back to him in bits and pieces. Sometimes he felt a throbbing pain all throughout his body. Other times he was met with tantalizing, sweet flavors and scents. He was rarely able to muster the strength or motivation to attempt to drink from whatever sweet things were placed at his feet and often felt his proboscis being forcibly moved towards the sugary substance.

 

If he was lucky he could occasionally make out the muted sounds of voices or vague impressions of shape and color at the edges of his vision. He was not sure of how long he’d spent in a twilight state of semi-awareness, and he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. 

 

_ I… I failed so miserably. Damnit.  _

 

He got forcibly yanked out of semi-consciousness by the sensation of getting gently turned around as something fluffy and damp rubbed at him. Then he became aware enough of his surroundings to see collapsed habitat walls surrounding him and the blue-stained Q-tips and colorful dust* littering the area around him. Eventually he tried to stand, but his legs collapsed under him. A sharp pain shot through his shaking limbs, and his head spun. He suppressed a cry of pain, as his head smacked against the surface underneath him. 

 

“Subwoofer! You’re awake! I’m so psyched to see you up, little dude. I-I thought I was going to lose your for a while there… It’s honestly pretty amazing you pulled through. I, um, I think most of your legs were bent in the wrong direction and parts of your body were, like totally caved in. Anyways, you should try and be more careful, little dude”

 

Gabriel let out a dismissive chirp and once again attempted to stand, and, predictably, failing again. He made several desperate attempts despite the pain, and in some places, concerning numbness before shrieking in frustration and slumping over.

 

Nino winced at the butterfly’s struggles and crouched down so that his eyes were level with insect’s habitat.

 

“I know you’re upset, little dude, and want to do things on you own. There’s no shame in getting some help when you’re struggling, though. It doesn’t make you any weaker or your efforts less meaningful. I’m your friend and I totally want to help you get back on your feet, literally and figuratively.”

 

Nino gave an open and comforting smile and held his hand out to “Subwoofer”. The butterfly flinched away and raised his leg to bat the hand away.

 

_ Wait… I… I really can’t do this on my own, can I? I’ll just end up hurting myself further… I can’t afford to be stubborn, even if this does feel like I’m throwing my dignity and pride out the window I’ll just have to cooperate. _

 

Gabriel lowered his foreleg and leaned into the teen’s hand, letting Nino pick him up. Soon, he found himself clinging to the fabric of the teen’s shirt.

 

After that, Nino started regularly carrying him around to meals and various daily activities, usually perched on the teen’s shoulder or hat. The teen still had yet to bring the battered butterfly back to school because it was “too soon, my little buddy needs to recover more and he’s probably, like, traumatized or something.” The good-natured teenager also made helping his “little buddy” regain the ability to walk and, hopefully, glide short distances with what was left of his wings a regular fixture in their daily lives. It was a long and painful process, but eventually Gabriel started walking again with dogged determination, Nino’s constant encouragements, and makeshift splints constructed with toothpicks. 

 

————-______________————

 

_ I will most certainly not be seen in public with someone wearing such an awful ensemble. The embarrassment by proxy would have me weeping if my tear ducts could still do anything more than lubricate the surface of my eyes. I may not be able to make out patterns, but I can still tell that that shade of green should be against the Geneva conventions, because exposing civilians to it is a war crime.  _

 

Gabriel, currently perched on a kitchen countertop, was ranting his little hearts out whilst flaring his tattered wings for and gesturing with his, now slightly crooked, legs for emphasis. Of course, to every other resident of the Lahiffe household, it seemed like his tirade was just Nino’s pet butterfly clicking, chirping, and probably begging for leftover fruit from breakfast. Nino simply nodded knowingly and placed another slice of cantaloupe in front of the butterfly before heading back to his room to get his school supplies. Chris giggled while briefly watched the insect’s antics before rushing out the door with his mother and a brightly colored backpack in tow.

 

The butterfly, in a fit of spiteful recklessness, rammed into the cup of lemonade that had been resting on the counter. The container wobbled precariously before, much to Gabriel’s dismay, toppling towards him rather than over the counter. A torrent of the icy beverage rained down upon Gabriel’s tiny body.

 

Gabriel had now found himself trapped in a citrus-scented hell. His senses were assaulted by lemony torment. He was surrounded on all sides by a sour and vaguely fruity barrier. No matter which direction he stepped in, his feet would be somewhat submerged in the wicked elixir. Truly, he had been baptized by the sour sacrament, his chitinous body shivering from the cold.

 

_ This is… quite the predicament. I suppose I will have to wade through this heinous beverage, which by the way has way too much lemon and way too little sugar. It’s not even worthy of being consumed by a filthy bird…  _

  
  


Gabriel attempted to make his way through the growing puddle, his sodden wings dragging behind him. If he still had a gag reflex he would have been retching from the overwhelming scent and flavor. Misjudging one of his steps, Gabriel tripped, slipped, and fell flat on his back. Filled with frustration, the petulant butterfly began chirping and scrabbling to get his legs back under him.

 

Nino, having heard the sound of the cup’s impact and the subsequent high-pitched vocalizations, went to investigate. On the shiny surface of the counter Nino found a tiny figure flailing his fuzzy little legs surrounded by lemonade and ice cubes. The imperious invertebrate had his thoroughly soaked wings splayed out underneath him, unable to lift them properly due to the excess weight from the liquid. Their dark color stood out in stark contrast from the pale countertop, the periwinkle spots shimmered in the early morning sunlight.

 

“Shit, little dude, were you trying to get my attention? Sorry if I was, like, distracted or whatever. You need to be more careful. That cup could have totally flattened you like a pancake.”

 

Nino swiftly moved the cup and Gabriel out of the way before mopping up the beverage with a paper towel. The teen then whipped a pack of Q-tips out of his backpack.

 

_ Why do you have that in your bag? Were you anticipating me making a mess of myself at some point? I ca- _

 

Before Gabriel could finish that line of thinking, he was interrupted by a Q-tip dampened by warm water wiping the sticky lemonade residue off of his face. Gabriel decided to come up with another plan to escape his predicament to occupy himself, but then was distracted by some brightly colored flowers bobbing cheerfully in the wind outside. 

 

_ Flowerssss yesss, good food good perch. Plentiful colors plentiful sugar. Near trees. Good perch. Good territory. Perfect for finding ma- No! I will not be consumed by these… these animalistic instincts. I still am intelligent human being, damnit. _

 

While Gabriel was trying to resist the very powerful urge to feed from the local flora to his tiny hearts’ content and hilltop* like there was no tomorrow, Nino was finishing up cleaning away the lemony mess. The teen made sure to be careful around the butterfly’s sensitive eyes and remaining antenna. Nino then gently placed the insect on a freshly laundered washcloth and placed the now clean, but still vaguely lemon scented fellow back into his habitat before quickly heading off to meet his family and go to school.

  
  
  


————-______________————

 

_ In hindsight, maybe sitting on top of someone’s head while they’re listening to music was a bad idea.  _

 

Gabriel was currently fighting off nausea and a nasty headache whilst clinging to Nino’s ( _ frankly, rather garish)  _ red cap while the teen was bobbing his head to the beat of a song. The throbbing pain in his head had started while he was basking in some sunlight and fighting to maintain self control and had persisted for the last few hours, and the excess motion seemed to only be making it worse.

 

The teen, at the moment, seems to be doing some sort of homework. Much to Gabriel’s chagrin, though, he couldn’t make out what the teen was reading or writing. The smaller text looked like a blurry, jumbled mess to Gabriel. The letters for the larger text were discernible, but they seemed to no longer have any meaning or correlate to any words or sounds in Gabriel’s mind. 

 

_ No, I am most certainly not becoming illiterate! It must be my awful eyesight or-or I’m just tired. Yeah, that’s it… I’m just tired from a long day. _

 

Nino’s rhythmic head bobbing stopped with the buzzing sound from his phone. He picked it up and answered.

 

“Hey dude, what’s up? Oh, shit, that’s… that’s awful. Do you want to meet up at the park, yeah the one near that one cafe with the really good smoothies. Yeah, that one. I’ll be right over…”

 

During the exchange the teen had stiffened and a strange strain had entered his voice. He quickly got up, told his family he’d be heading out, and fled the home with a bewildered butterfly as his passenger. After a few minutes of alternating between power walking, Nino arrived at a lush park. He approached a blonde teen who was sitting slightly slumped over on one of the benches. The blonde boy seemed wilted and crumpled in on himself with his head resting in trembling hands and hunched shoulders. Nino cautiously sat down next to him.

 

“Hey, bro, I’m here.. You said tha-“

 

“M-my father, yeah. He didn’t show up to some important business meeting, and well, that’s when... when... He’s been declared missing.”

 

“There has to be, like, some sort of lead, right? A guy like your dad doesn’t just vanish into thin air like that right. If he was getting abducted or had to run off or whatever, he probably try to make some form of contact or leave trail?”

 

“Nino, he could have been missing for over a month! No one noticed he was gone, I didn’t notice he was gone! H-he could be dead or have been kidnapped o-or something! I don- I-I can’t lose him too, not like mom...”

 

“Bro, if anything, your dad is stubborn as hell. I’m sure no matter where he is or whatever’s happened to him, he’ll pull through! You have to keep up hope man! We can even try to find out what happened to him together with our friends. Maybe the police missed something because they, like, didn’t know where to look? Hell, there’s probably already loads of theories we can follow from websleuth forums! Even if he acts like a Razor scooter hitting your leg given human form, the support of others, especially his family, has to mean at least something to him. Maybe, if your dad’s been kidnapped or something, the knowledge that people are looking for him, that you’re rooting for him and waiting for him to come home is keeping him going!”

 

“Thanks, you… you always know what to say to encourage people, huh?”

 

“I guess so, bro. No matter what, I’m here for you. It’s okay for you to be open about these feelings, as long as that negativity doesn’t take over your life.”

 

Adrien gave a shaky, tearful smile, as his friend pulled him into a comforting hug. Almost immediately after being pulled into the embrace, the blonde teen started sobbing into Nino’s shoulder. For the first time in months Adrien felt comfortable enough to fully express his pain and be emotionally vulnerable with another human being. His bawling mixed with Nino’s occasional words of comfort and understanding into a bittersweet sound that drifted through the air.

  
  


Gabriel squirmed as he watched the blatant display of sorrow and support from his perch. The cries tore at him like the talons of a vengeful bird! 

  
  


Perhaps it was the stress of the recent near death experience. Perhaps it was the fact that his son’s misery was confronting him in a manner he couldn’t avoid. There was no more lair to hide in or busy schedule to provide excuses for not having to look Adrien in the eye or ask, really ask, how he felt, after all. Whatever the cause, Gabriel felt a surge of remorse and a feeling adjacent to compassion in his callous little heart(s) for the poor child.

 

_ Oh, Adrien, what kind of a father am I? I’ve failed not just myself and Emilie, but you as well. What have I… W-where am I? Who are these children? _

 

Gabriel froze as he felt a sudden, stinging pain in his head. He knew the pale-haired child was important, but he wasn’t sure why. Thoughts and memories slipped away like many grains of sand through desperate fingers. Sometimes he’d briefly catch an image, such as a smiling woman with similarly blonde hair, a drawing scrawled in crayon, awkwardly averting his gaze when walking by certain doors. They fell from his grasp as soon as he stopped focusing all his attention on them. 

 

Each time he reached out into his mind for a memory, all he found was emptiness. It was like parts of his mind, his memories, had been cleaved away, leaving a gaping wound. It hurt for a while, to poke and prod at it, but eventually he forgot there was something even missing in the first place. Still, the child’s obvious distress made him feel distinctly uncomfortable, and almost guilty.

 

_ Perhaps, I am simply a very compassionate person? In fact, I probably came here to help them, being as utterly amazing as I am!  _

 

Gabriel puffed out his fuzzy little chest in pride, quite sure of the fact that he had no part in causing any of the suffering any of these children were going through. As far as Gabriel was concerned, he was a college-age fashion design student (who some regarded as a “pretentious little shit”) that for some reason had a few disjointed memories of being a super villain. He’d decided to sort that confusing information out along with the whole butterfly thing, later. The super villain stuff was especially unnerving, because he couldn’t remember why he’d thought terrorizing Paris was a good idea in the first place along with the fact that his voice sounded different in these memories (s _ till recognizable as my own magnificent voice, though _ ). 

 

_ I’ll just have to organize my thoughts when I’m back in my habitat with a nice, big bottle cap of sugar water. Maybe that supervillain thing was just a really weird dream I had? It probably was, because there is no way I’d ever be seen wearing such an atrocious outfit! _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Excessive trauma to a butterfly’s wings can result in loss of some of their colorful scales  
> *Hilltopping is a social behavior that is done by butterflies during their mating season (a form of lekking) or in the presence of ideal “territories” for feeding and breeding that involves them congregating in elevated spaces. Most butterflies either try to chase off competitors or simply do aerial mating dances to impress other butterflies.


	8. Gabriel's Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Chapter Titles I Considered (TM):  
> Gabriel Agreste Found Dead in Miami  
> Gabriel Becomes a Bellhop
> 
> I wrote 90% of this fic on my phone. God, I'm so tired.

Days oozed into weeks like golden honey as the days grew warmer and longer. Soon enough, summer had come upon Paris and the heat had began lounging about like a lazy cat. 

 

Gabriel, in the meantime, had mastered walking up vertical surfaces and gliding short distances without further injuring himself. His sense of direction and ability to flap his wings to gain lift was shot to hell, but at least he had enough wing membrane to let air currents carry him for a little while. As a result of his partially renewed mobility, Gabriel had taken to knocking over small objects to get attention and basking anywhere and everywhere there was a decent amount of heat and light. If there was a flat, well-lit surface Gabriel would find it and plant his chitinous little ass there for as long as human, or rather, Lepidopteran-ly possible. 

 

On some nights, when the air was as hot and sticky as melted caramel, Nino would whisper secrets to the petulant little butterfly. The teen would speak in hushed tones of his troubles. He spoke of his worries about higher education and finding a career, even though graduation was still a few years away. He spoke of how being akumatized had messed him up inside, things he felt he couldn’t tell his mom because she already worries about so many things. There was always that “what if” lingering in the teens mind regarding the altitude of the bubbles he’d created and the fragility of the human body. He confessed about he struggled with negative emotions, how he suppressed them at every turn in some desperate attempt to avoid becoming akumatized again. It had taken him so long to be okay with himself and his feelings and to not blame himself for what he did while akumatized. 

 

Searing guilt began to weigh Gabriel down like molten lead in his thorax.

 

————-______________————

 

“Hey, little dude! I’ve got somewhere, like, totally cool I have to take you!”

 

Gabriel started at the sudden noise, lurching backwards and forcefully jerking his proboscis out of a slightly mushy frozen grape. 

 

_ Ow! Shit! I was enjoying that you insolent ignoramus!  _

 

_ “ _ Oh, uh, sorry for interrupting your meal little dude. Anyways, I’ve been thinking it’s time for some of my buddies to get to know my adowable widdle Subbie Wubbie!”

 

_ Stop it with that disgusting saccharine schtick! I swear, you using such godawful baby talk makes me want to slam my head into the nearest wall until I’m unconscious! I’m supposed to be cool and refined, not cute! _

 

Gabriel was, currently, struggling with some insecurity regarding his self image due to the humidity causing the fluff on his thorax and legs to become incredibly frizzy. The comments about him looking like an “adorable dandelion with wings and eyes”, while not malicious, still embarrassed him deeply. 

  
  


“I’m totally going on vacation with my family and, like, flying on a plane might be too stressful for you, little dude. Some of my friends are gonna watch you for the next week. Hanging out with cool new people will, like, be a fun new experience for you, little buddy!”

 

The teen held out his hand, and Gabriel stalked up to the appendage and briefly flared at Nino before climbing on. Gabriel was promptly placed into his habitat. The container had recently been decorated with fresh leaves and sticks.

 

Nino also made sure to put some Q-tips and tear-free shampoo in his bag. Based on the sheer amount of times “Subwoofer” had to be fished out of beverages and a rather unfortunate incident involving a pack of gum and an origami crane ( _ birds truly have become the bane of my existence, in all forms) _ , Nino knew that certain precautions had to be taken regarding his pet’s safety and cleanliness.

 

As the duo made their way downstairs, Nino quickly hugged his mom and told her that he was heading out to give “Subwoofer” to Adrien to pet-sit for the first few days of their trip. Nino’s mom made sure to remind him to call her should he need anything before hugging him back and sending him off. 

  
  


When Nino made his way through the streets of Paris, he passed by a rather large crowd forming by the Seine. They were all clustered around a roped off area that was guarded by police officers. Nino could make out, through the crowd, a lumpy figure draped in a damp, white, sheet laying on the ground. Nino dismissed the strange sight and continued walking, focusing on the task at hand.

 

————-______________————

 

Adrien flicked through various television channels, resulting in a dizzying amount of images and sounds to appear on the screen in quick succession.

 

“For only nine payments of-“

 

“Bystanders noted a suspicious smell coming from the Seine-“

 

“Only 5 minutes left to plate your dish!”

 

“-Jenny’s broken up with Todd, Martha’s summoned an Old God in the girl’s bathroom, and prom is tomorrrowwwwww!”

 

The teen was startled from his channel-surfing daze by the buzzing of his phone upon receiving texts. Adrien made his way to the front door, opened it, and let Nino in. 

 

“Hey, bro, I brought Subwoofer! Thanks for agreeing to watch him for a few days!”

 

_ I hate that name, so, so much. It is a scourge, and abomination. I don’t even know what the hell a subwoofer is, and I’m already pretty sure it’s not something you’d want to name something after! _

 

“It’s no problem, Nino.”

 

_ Psssh. Like I’d be a problem. _

 

Nino then promptly unpacked his bag and instructed Adrien on how to safely handle butterflies, using “Subwoofer” as a live example. He also strongly suggested letting “Subwoofer” out of his habitat to explore daily, so the little guy wouldn’t get restless and fidgety. The teens then chatted about the latest season of a popular show before Nino decided to head back home and finish packing.

 

“See you in a week, little dude! I’m going to miss you sooooooo much!”

 

_ Errrr, I’ll miss you too? I guess? I mean, I guess I’m grateful that you kept me alive or whatever. No, no, not the hair, it took me the entire trip here to get it like this! _

 

Nino was unconcerned about the fact that him gently petting the butterfly while he was saying goodbye was making the insect look even more like a distressed cotton ball. Gabriel had spent the last several minutes before arriving managing to groom his fuzz to a point where someone could tell the difference between his head and his thorax. Sadly, his efforts were now in vain. 

 

Nino then carefully handed the butterfly to Adrien before taking his leave. Arrian then placed the insect onto a nearby coffee table. Gabriel attempted to make out his surroundings .

 

_ Damn, this is disorienting. Everything. Is. So. White. The walls and floor are all running together in some awful jamboree of indiscernible nonsense. Wait, have I been here before? Nah, maybe I’m just being reminded of that time I was stuck in an igloo for three days straight with only hard candy, vodka, and instant ramen for sustenance. That was a pretty wild winter break… It’s probably for the best that my parents, and well, no one else found out about that. _

 

Plagg, while Gabriel was contemplating that absolute clusterfuck that was his freshman year, decided to investigate and possibly goof around with his new, temporary, housemate. From his experience, animals, especially magical ones, were fun to dick around with. This butterfly was shedding its magic everywhere, and Plagg was fairly certain that butterflies did not normally have blue eyes or a nearly purple exoskeleton paired with a pale blonde coat of fluff. Plagg briefly entertained the idea that the weird little bug was one of Nooroo’s that had managed to evade Hawkmoth’s control before returning his focus to how he should approach the flapping fuzzball. Well, that and camembert, but camembert was always in Plagg’s mind and heart.

 

Whatever the strange bug’s origins, Plagg decided to simply float up behind it and introduce himself. Plagg, sadly, did not take into account how a butterfly mind would instinctively register non-butterfly-shaped flying animal as a potential threat like a bird, fruit bat, or particularly nasty wasp. That, combined with Gabriel’s nasty experiences regarding birds that was likely beginning to form a lifelong phobia of them ( _ feathered menaces, cold dead eyes)  _ made for a recipe for disaster. Gabriel didn’t even need to turn his head to see the kwamii’s approach what with him having recently started the use of the nearly 360 degree vision his (proportionally) massive eyes afforded him. The moment he saw Plagg, something in his tiny butterfly brain snapped and all he knew was raw terror.

 

The incredibly distressed and disoriented butterfly began continuously running in circles on the coffee table, emanating a shrill screech while doing so. Any attempts to snap him out of his panic resulted in him screeching louder and running faster. It seemed as if all higher brain function had been temporarily sacrificed to raw survival instinct. The lights were on, but Gabriel, or whatever was left of him, was not currently at home. 

 

Adrien stared at the strange, stupid little creature for a few moments and made some valiant efforts to move him or distract him to no avail. He eventually called out to Nathalie for help in dealing with this predicament. Plagg quickly hid himself at the sound of the well-mannered woman’s approach.

 

A slightly frazzled Nathalie made her way into the room. She gazed at the insect, sighed, and rubbed her temples. 

 

“I suppose we should simply wait until it tires itself out. It’ll have to stop eventually once it succumbs to exhaustion.”

 

Both Adrien and Nathalie awkwardly watched the butterfly sprint and screech his little heart out for a few moments before Nathalie backed out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

 

It took nearly an hour, but Gabriel did eventually collapse from exhaustion.

 

————-______________————

 

Adrien was greeted by a flushed and slightly out of breath Marinette toting a large, pink duffle bag. A cheerful, slightly lopsided grin spread across her face when she saw the blonde boy. 

 

“Thanks for coming over!”

 

“Oh yeah, is it ok if I put my bag down somewhere? Today was my weekly workout with Kagami, and I kinda didn’t have enough time to put away my gym clothes before rushing over.”

 

“Weekly workout?”

 

“Right, um, so Kagami kinda saw me one day in the gym and started giving me constructive criticism about my technique. At first I was kinda insulted, but then we started talking and all of a sudden I was telling her how to make cake pops! Ever since we’ve been challenging each other to improve in various skills and have fun!! We meet up weekly to workout and hang out stuff…. It’s been, really fun…”

 

“That sounds great, Marinette! I’m glad you and Kagami are getting along… Anyways you can put your bag down there, yeah, over there”

 

“Oh, right! I almost forgot! Here’s some of the, er, stuff you might need. I suppose Nino’s already told you about how I’m his main supplier of pet food?”

 

Marinette pulled a large container of high-quality sugar, several Tupperware containers full of fruit, and a vibrant bouquet of slightly wilted flowers from her bag.

 

“Most Parisian households don’t have this stuff in bulk, but my parent’s bakery? Yeah, if you need something sweet, my family has you covered.”

 

“That’s great! I don’t have a lot of sugary liquids and the little guy isn’t eating any of the fruit I give him…”

 

“Is it fresh?”

 

“Yeah…?”

 

“Butterflies prefer slightly overripe, old, or expired fruit. The flesh of the fruit is usually soft and more likely to have juice oozing from it, which makes it easier for them to eat since they can’t chew.”

 

The two teens continued to converse as they walked to Adrien’s room, picking up a cup of water and some paper towels along the way.  Gabriel, who was currently whining to himself about his aching joints (which was a pretty strange sensation due to his skeleton now being on the outside), started slightly at their approach.

 

Marinette brushed any hair that had fallen free from her messy bun away from her face as she began showing Adrien how to mix the right amounts of sugar into the water. She and Adrien took turns soaking the paper towels in the sugar-water solution and organizing various flowers and fruit-chunks into containers for future meals.

 

Gabriel watched the tantalizing display of sweet-smelling colorful items. It took a great amount of willpower to resist the gnawing hunger and instinctual desire to get to the food as quickly as possible. Gabriel didn’t want to seem desperate, after all. While their names and faces escaped him, Gabriel was fairly certain he had met his temporary caretaker and the child’s friend before. He couldn’t quite put his tarsus* on where he’d met them before. In that moment, Gabriel resolved to start memorizing voices and scents so he wouldn’t be confused every time he interacted with other than Nino. Human names, and language in general, were becoming harder and harder for him to understand and remember. Fashion terminology, though, were left untouched by whatever was gradually tearing away parts of Gabriel’s mind. 

 

_ The boy seems like a Calico. The girl seems like a Linen. _

 

The two teens conversed lightly while they worked. They discussed everything from summer plans to recent scientific breakthroughs to newly released video games. As the conversation went on, though, Adrien’s smile dimmed and he almost seemed to physically wilt a little.

 

“Are you alright? You seem a little down…”

 

“I was just thinking… y’know… about how normal this is…”

 

“Oh?”

 

“It just feels weird… like, I don’t know, it’s like my dad disappearing hasn’t really affected my life at all… I mean I’m sad he’s missing, but… he wasn’t really a part of my life, especially after what happened to mom… Nathalie was basically already raising me. The only real difference is she’s now legally recognized as my guardian… s-shouldn’t I be more upset or something? Am I not caring about this enough?”

 

“I’m not sure what to say… I don’t know a lot about your home life, but what I do know is that… that whatever you’re feeling is valid. Sometimes you won’t feel sad or like your life has been disrupted when you lose someone you care about, especially if you didn’t know them super well. That doesn’t mean that you don’t care about them… Relationship, feelings, and grief are complicated, messed up things and people… everyone reacts to loss differently…”

 

Marinette patted Adrien’s hand comfortingly, and they shared a weak smile before returning to preparing the food. 

 

Gabriel was still sitting over to the side, listening in on the conversation.

 

_ I only understood about a third of that, but it seems like Calico kid is having a difficult time with his father. I’ve never had any kids, myself, but even I can tell that the poor boy’s father was probably a neglectful ass-hat. I guess I’m going to be stuck as this kid’s emotional support butterfly for the next few days, or whatever. Maybe I should just start studying to become a psychiatrist instead of a designer because holy shit the universe seems to enjoy loads of other people’s emotional baggage being dropped on me like an underpaid bellhop of trauma. Woop dee fucking doo. _

 

————-______________————

 

Nathalie walked over and picked up the ringing phone, and began conversing with the caller on the other end. Heavy-lidded eyes widening almost imperceptibly, she muttered into the receiver with a clipped and strained tone, “Oh, I see… In the Seine? Yes, yes I’ll be there in about half an hour… I won’t tell anyone until we’re sure…”

 

For a brief moment her eyes flicked over to where Adrien was laying dozed off with a butterfly perched awkwardly on his head. Her unoccupied hand tightened its grasp around the edge of a nearby table until her knuckles began to turn white. With a practiced sort of efficiency and poise, Nathalie packed up her bag, wrote a brief note apologizing for her temporary, but sudden absence, and gently placed a blanket on the sleeping teen.

 

_ “ _ It’s been a long day, Adrien, and I fear there will be many long, difficult days to come,” she sighed. Before she walked out the door, Nathalie noticed the butterfly staring at her with its head cocked slightly to the side. In the brief moment she made eye contact with the creature she could have sworn she saw an unnerving, almost human, intelligence behind those tiny, compound eyes. A strange feeling of familiarity akin to deja vu overcame Nathalie. She shuddered, suppressing a scowl, and dismissed the odd feeling as being a result of sleep deprivation and stress finally getting to her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A tarsus is the claw-like end to a butterfly’s foot.


	9. The Chapter in which Gabriel is Largely Irrelevant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo I'm going to start including a subplot about non-magical crimes!
> 
> Lungs whomst? Butterflies only need spiracles to bring oxygen to their woefully inefficient little circulatory systems.

“Thank you for arriving on such short notice, Ms. Sancoeur.”

 

“It’s no problem, Detective Kaur, your work on the case has been impressive, despite the lack of leads and evidence.”

 

Detective Kaur gave Nathalie a tired smile and a firm handshake. The two women began walking through various hallways and then down a flight of stairs to a heavy, metal door.

 

“The department has been keeping an eye out for any John or Jane Doe does that show up, what with there being such a high profile case that seems like it will turn up cold. Doctor Beaufort will show you the unidentified person. They seem to match Mr. Agreste in height and build.”

 

The smell of formaldehyde assaulted Nathalie’s nose as Detective Kaur opened the door into a brightly lit room. A short, mousey woman wearing a labcoat and latex gloves approached them.

 

“Doctor Beaufort?”

 

Doctor Beaufort nodded, her graying ponytail bobbing wildly. She gestured for the two other women to follow her. They all made their way past rows of cabinets and shiny metal tables before arriving to a table that was occupied by a body bag.

 

Doctor Beaufort gingerly unzipped the body bag, revealing it’s unfortunate occupant. Nathalie took a deep breath and looked inside.

 

“It’s not him,” she muttered.

 

There was some passing resemblance in the shape of the dead man’s jaw and the slope of his forehead. His lifeless eyes, though, were too round and close together, and his nose was too thin and crooked. Strawberry blonde hair curled around large, freckled ears.

 

“I suppose it was worth a shot,” sighed Detective Kaur,”Thank you for taking the time out of your day to come here, anyways, Ms. Sancour.”

 

“Thank you too, Detective Kaur.”

 

Detective Kaur gave Nathalie a tight smile and looked her in the eyes.

 

“I know Mr. Agreste wa- is a secretive man. You might be the only person he might have confided in. If he ever said anything to you that seemed suspicious or that might have indicated if someone wanted to hurt him, please, tell me.”

 

“I can’t think of anything, right now, Detective.”

 

Detective Kaur gave Nathalie a curt nod and handed her a cream-colored business card. Nathalie slid the card into her purse and walked out of the morgue, her heart hammering in her chest.

 

————-______________————

 

Kagami gazed into her smoothie. The condensation on the outside of the cup left a cool, damp residue on the inside of her hand. She contemplated the thick fuschia, berry-flavored beverage before her. It was from a store that Marinette had taken her to after one of their more recent meet-ups. Kagami wasn’t sure when exactly she’d started regarding Marinette as a friend, but the other girl had somehow worked her way into Kagami’s heart and earned her trust and respect.

 

Kagami absentmindedly rubbed at the slightly sore spot on her arm where Marinette managed to land a hit while they were sparring. She quietly chuckled to herself as she remembered how Marinette had so quickly shifted from strategizing and literally knocking Kagami off her feet to practically falling over herself to help Kagami her back up. Kagami knew that Marinette had felt the rush of battle and finding an equal match in an opponent and sister-in-arms too. She’d only seen Marinette’s eyes light up and dorky grin spread across her face like that when she was talking about fashion or baking. Marinette was still untrained and lacking in finesse or subtlety, but she was strong, courageous, and clever and Kagami knew that Marinette could one day be a great fighter, whether it was with a blade or with her fists.

 

Kagami was shaken out of her pondering by a cry of terror. She whipped around to face the source of the noise and found the store cashier being held at gunpoint by a pale, jittery man in a ski mask. As slowly and quietly as possible, Kagami removed her shoes. Ever so stealthily she padded across the floor, ensuring that she was out of the man’s eye-shot. Once she was in range, Kagami tackled the man, striking him repeatedly on the head and shoulders with her beverage. In the confusion, Kagami had managed to knock the weapon from the criminal’s grip. She screamed and clawed at her much larger opponent like an enraged puma, attempting to restrain the man and keep him from getting his hands back on the gun until help arrives.

 

After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, help came in the form of Ladybug and Chat Noir. The two heros managed to knock the would-be thief out and truss him up like a turkey before handing him over to the cops that arrived on the scene soon after.

 

An out of breath and slightly bruised Kagami was thanked by both the heroes and the police for her quick thinking and bravery. At that point she felt like there was more adrenaline in her veins than blood. The next few hours blurred together into a slushy mess like the remains of her smoothie. Her mother oscillating between having a conniption fit and acting weirdly proud of Kagami’s heroism. Before she knew it, the sun had sunk below the horizon and darkness had consumed the sky outside her large, ornate windows.

 

She was attempting to do a reading assignment for class when she heard a light tapping against her windowpane. To her surprise, Ladybug was waving sheepishly at her through the glass. Kagami hastily put her book down and opened the window to let the super-heroine in. Ladybug began stepping over the windowsill, but just as Ladybug opened her mouth to greet Kagami, a strong gust of wind blew her into the other girl.

 

They both tumbled onto the ground in a haphazard tangle of limbs. A blush spread across Ladybug’s cheeks as she made a flustered apology and reached out her hand to help Kagami her back up.

 

“Sorry for barging in unexpectedly and, well, toppling over on you. I wanted to make sure you were okay! Thank you for helping take down that armed robber.”

 

“The pleasure’s all mine, Ladybug. It was ultimately you and Chat Noir who really neutralized the threat, I simply stalled for time and mitigated the potential damage he could have done.”

 

Ladybug beamed, and in that brief exchange something started to click in Kagami’s head. Something about Ladybug was incredibly familiar. Kagami had seen the sweet smile, altruism, battle stances, resourcefulness, and passion in another girl who also just so happened to frequently wear her dark hair in pigtails.

 

_No, no way, it can’t be. Ladybug and Marinette are both wonderful people, but… Actually, that would explain a lot of Marinette’s more eccentric habits. She does wear those earrings everywhere, and I’ve caught her talking into her handbag and sneaking around a few times…_

 

“Kagami, you are courageous, righteous, and willful. Your inner fire and passion for protecting others makes you a candidate for the Dragon Miraculous.”

 

“So I’ll be an on-call super hero like Rena Rouge or Carapace?”

 

“Exactly! If there are ever missions where Chat and I need extra help, we’ll be able to call on you and other candidates for extra assistance. Right now we’re dealing with an increase in abductions and mysterious deaths, and a human trafficking ring seems to be involved. We’re working with the police to bust their operations and rescue people they’ve kidnapped, but there’s only so much two hero’s can do. Do you accept the Dragon Miraculous, Kagami?”

 

Ladybug held out a small intricately carved box made of dark, lacquered wood. She opened it, revealing a thin, metal circlet. It seemed to thrum with a heartbeat that matched Kagami’s own. Kagami slowly lifted the artifact from its container and placed it around her head. The layering of her bob-cut and her bangs kept most of the circlet hidden from view. A comforting warmth radiated from the circlet and wrapped around Kagami like a thick blanket or her fencing uniform.

 

“I accept this honor and privilege to fight at your side, Marinette. I will use my fire to protect the vulnerable and burn away the cruelty and injustice in the world.”

 

“That’s wonderful Kaga- Wait, d-did you just refer to me as Marinette?”

 

“Yes, I deduced that your secret identity was Marinette, and I didn’t feel like dancing around the issue. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I’ll take it to the grave if I must.”

 

“I- ok… Sorry, I’m just freaking out a little… a lot… The only other people who know are my mentor, who gave me my Miraculous, and my Kwamii!”

 

“Kwamii?”

 

Marinette gave a sheepish smile before gesturing to her earrings.

 

“Kwamii are supernatural beings that reside in the Miraculous and give them their magical properties. When you wear and use the Miraculous, you channel a piece of the Kwamii’s immense power through the conduit of the Miraculous. The method for creating these artifacts have been lost to time, but they seem to have been made to channel and contain the reality altering powers of certain more benevolent beings from another plane of existence.”

 

“That’s… a lot to digest… Can I speak with this… Kwamii?”

 

“Oh, right! Of course you can. The Kamii, mine’s Tikki and she’s a total sweetheart, can manifest physically as a small sprite and converse with you when you aren’t transformed. It seems like Longg, they’re the Dragon, is taking a while to manifest from spending so much time dormant. They seem to have taken a liking to you, though.”

 

“You can feel the warmth, too?”

 

“I can sense the positive connection somewhat, but I can’t feel your bond personally. My connection with Tikki feels like the smell of a spring breeze or baking bread from my family’s bakery. It generally seems to come in the form of something both associated with the Kwamii’s aspect and something the holder finds comforting.”

 

“What if Longg hadn’t accepted me?”

 

“You likely would have either felt nothing at all or, in a worst case scenario, felt anything from mild discomfort to outright agony. Instead of warmth you might have felt bitter cold or possibly a sweltering, searing heat that would burn you.”

 

Kagami gave a stiff nod, acknowledging the potential danger of a toxic or nonexistent bond between Kwamii and holder. Her mind lingered on the implications of misusing or stealing a Miraculous. The Kwamii would likely not be able to do anything directly to their holder, but the holder would likely end up destroying themselves or end up being ineffectual when trying to pull power through a dead or discordant bond. She wondered if that was why Hawkmoth was so irrational. Was he using his Miraculous to forcibly pull power through an inadequate bond, straining and eventually tearing at himself and his poor Kwamii in the process. She didn’t want to think too long about what repressed Miraculous abuse did to a person or whether it drew ire and attention from certain unspeakable things. She would discuss other things regarding Miraculous with Marinette, and not dwell on it further.

 

Eventually, after some awkward conversing, largely involving Marinette gushing about magic and costumes, they began discussing transformations. More specifically, how interesting it was that the willpower of a holder and the arcane abilities of a Kwamii combined via miraculous to summon entirely new outfits with no apparent source for the materials and no place for their original attire to disappear to.

 

Kagami called out the activation phrase, and felt the welcoming warmth spread over her. Red and gold flames flickered over her body, leaving altered clothing rather than burns wherever they touched her. Soon, she found herself in a practical, but aesthetically appealing costume.

 

Her abdomen, lower thighs, and lower arms were protected by thick, quilted dark red fabric with golden stitching. Her upper thighs, calves, and upper arms were covered in flexible black fabric that reminded her of a wetsuit. A golden sash wrapped around her waist and ended in a shiny tail that resembled the tail of a dragon. Golden accents colored her knee and elbow pads, and flares and ruffles flared from her shoulders and mid-thighs. She had golden shoes and gloves along with lightweight black. A sudden weight on her head indicated the presence of horns and Kagami could make out the edges of her red mask in her peripheral vision. She smiled, and noticed that her canines seemed rather long. Running her tongue over her teeth, she realized…

 

“I have fangs?”

 

“I-I think they’re pretty cool..”

  


————-______________————

 

Gabriel was quickly learning that a product being apple-scented did not mean that it was also apple-flavored. His discomfort at the bitter, soapy taste left behind by the teenager’s shampoo warred with his instinctive desire to stay on the soft, brightly colored object.

 

_Bright colors, good smell, soft-under-tarsi. Food. Plant. Good for perch. Good for roost. Wait…. No! This is not good! What am I thinking? I need to get some real food and a nice spot near a window to bask in the sunlight! Mmmmmmm yessss that sweet sweet sunlight. Heh, if anything good has come from this it’s that no one will judge me for procrastinating. My professors can’t be riding my ass about my grades when I’m a butterfly!_

 

Gabriel appreciated his temporary freedom from responsibility before remembering his potentially shortened lifespan and deteriorating mental state. He promptly leapt from the foul-tasting head of hair and glided down to the floor. Determined to find where the kitchen or pantry was in this marble hellscape, Gabriel began flitting about.

 

It was hard to tell where he was going due to the flat monochrome design for most of the rooms. Held the time he couldn’t tell whether he was walking on the floor or a wall. The air conditioning combined with Gabriel’s growing hunger and exhaustion brought back many unpleasant memories.

 

_Don’t think about the igloo, don’t think about the igloo. There’s real food here somewhere! Y-you won’t have to feel the crunch of uncooked noodles between your teeth. Right, I don’t even have teeth. Holy fuck, since when did I start seeing that as the silver lining to a scenario?_

 

His tiny legs were sore and shaking. An uncomfortable pressure was building up at the back of his head, and he began unconsciously rolling and unrolling his proboscis.

 

_Is this the end? Is this where I die? Will I starve in this endless white void, sinking away into oblivion? Oh, I’m wasting away as I speak, my life is ebbing away from my failing body. I’ll never go on to achieve anything great with my life, and Shelly’s going to have her grubby little hands on my treasured ceramic bird collection forever. Woe is me!_

 

While Gabriel was making a dramatic monologue in his own head about how he was surely dying and how all of his prized possessions would be “inherited” by various people he wasn’t very found of, Nathalie returned to the mansion. She was about to walk past Adrien’s room when she noticed the butterfly fluttering his wings and gesticulating his tiny limbs quite dramatically. Gabriel had only managed to travel a foot or so away from the doorway to Adrien’s room.

 

Nathalie stared at him for a few moments before continuing on her way to her office. Gabriel, seizing the opportunity to escape the “ _endless expanse of paleness and pain”,_ latched on to her pant leg.

 

After a few minutes of walking, Nathalie and her little passenger entered the office. Gabriel promptly tried to climb on Nathalie’s desk, demanding her attention and food. He made a ruckus, chirping up a storm and knowing over small objects. Nathalie simply sighed and shook her head at the strange little creature. She then reached under her desk, rummaging around for a few moments before producing a bottle of bourbon and poured a liberal amount into the coffee mug she had sitting on her desk with shaking hands. She took a large swig from the mug as she turned on her computer and began answering emails.

 

Her face twisted into a scowl when she saw a particular email that she promptly deleted.

 

“Fucking imbeciles at AA don’t seem to get that I’m not interested and most certainly don’t want to talk about my issues and ‘heal’.”

 

She looked once again at the butterfly throwing a miniature tantrum on her desk.

 

“You remind me of my employer, he gave me migraines too. Hell he’s still giving me migraines from wherever he fucked off to. I swear, if this stress kills me and he’s still alive somewhere,

I’m definitely going to haunt him for the rest of his miserable time on this shitty ball of dirt.”

 

_Shit, I’m getting roped into another person’s emotional venting. Do I just have a flashing sign over my head that says “Emotional Support Butterfly”?_

 

“I can’t even tell the goddamn cops anything really substantial about his personal life because it’s connected to illicit bullshit that could get us both arrested!”

 

_What!? Was your boss embezzling or something? I mean I’m pretty sure I’ve been a super villain before due to the weird memories of gallivanting around in a mask and giving sinister monologues, so I guess that gives me relevant knowledge about escaping legal scrutiny? You remind me of the person I assume was my henchwoman or evil sidekick. She had a weird bird motif, lots of feathers, very somber, didn’t even cackle once._

 

Nathalie’s brow furrowed and she rested her head in her hands. She took another swig from her mug.

 

“It’s oddly cathartic, actually talking to someone. Especially since that someone can’t turn me over to the cops or really judge me. You probably don’t even understand what I’m saying, much less what legality or moral dubiousness is. Your life must be so simple, so easy. All you have to worry about is eating, not getting eaten, and finding a mate. After you achieve that, you can die happy and fulfilled at a ripe old age of one year old.”

 

_Fuck, I wish my life could me that simple. Well, except for the only living for a year part. I wish I didn’t have goals or aspirations outside of responding appropriately to stimuli and reproducing, then I wouldn’t feel so bad about not achieving them. I’m terrified of being a miserable failure all my life, broke and alone in some shitty apartment, having never designed anything that was more than mediocre. Should I try for something different? What if I’m terrible at fashion design and everyone hates my creations! What if I end up spending the rest of my life in a career I hate or have no aptitude for!?_

 

Gabriel felt his gnawing hunger and stress levels increase exponentially. He made for the nearest form of sustenance he could find, which was the mug of bourbon. He unfurled his proboscis and began slurping up the alcoholic beverage with gusto. Soon his belly was full and a not unpleasant warmth spread through him.

  


_Woaaahhhhh, my head feelsh veryyyy funny hhehe. Y-yer a reaaaaaaally nice ladyyyy, didja know that. ‘M sorry that ya’ haff to put up with aloooot of b-bullshit. Weeheeh the roomsh spinningggg woahhhh._

 

Nathalie bit back a giggle at the sight of the thoroughly sloshed butterfly stumbling in circles on her desk.

 

_Lookit my wigggly tongue thinggggg it’sh so weird. Isssa silly straw on m’ face! Thisssh cup ish beau’ful like flowerrssssh._

 

Gabriel stumbled forward and tried to give the mug an enthusiastic hug, but stumbled and fell flat on his face. He wriggled around a little before clumsily making his way towards the keyboard of Nathalie’s computer.

 

_Mmmmmm warmmmmm._

 

He promptly passed out on the keyboard, still occasionally kicking his little legs in his sleep.

  
  
  
  
  


————-______________————

 

Gabriel tossed and turned in his sleep, caught in the throes of dreams and fancy. He dreamed of wandering fields of bright color and discordant sound. Faces surrounded him, blurred and smeared. Their features ran together until they lacked any sort of identifying features. Their voices seemed muted and distant, but Gabriel felt like they were all accusing him

 

He tried to speak, to reach out to them, but he couldn’t make a sound. His appendages flickered between being tipped with tarsi and hands and feet. A shameful guilt burned inside him, searing away at his soul.

 

“Mr. Butterfly-man you are under arrest for attempted theft, attempted murder, assault, and property damage!”

 

_Wait what?_

 

“You are also being charged with public indecency! You aren’t wearing any pants!”

 

_Oh my god, I’m not wearing any pants! I haven’t worn pants in months! What’s wrong with me??_

 

“Shit, the handcuffs are too large for his tiny wrists.”

 

A giant set of handcuffs fell around Gabriel with a thud, only a hair's breadth away from taking off his head.

 

“I guess we’ll have to improvise then!”

 

Gabriel suddenly found himself getting scooped up and dropped into an empty styrofoam coffee cup. The bitter scent and flavor of the caffeinated residue left behind by the coffee was nauseating. A snap resounded through the cup when the lid was placed over the mouth of the vessel.

 

Everything started to blur together and Gabriel’s surroundings soon shifted to a jail cell made out of a Tupperware container with breathing holes. He was wearing a tiny orange jumpsuit with the words “Stinky Butterfly man” emblazoned on the chest.

 

His jail cell seemed to be sitting at the end of a long hallway. The other end of the hallway looked dark and decrepit. Bits and pieces of the walls had crumbled away to reveal a gaping void. Bookshelves and picture frames lined the walls along the hallway. Gabriel felt a tightness and then a searing pain in his head. When the pain stopped, the strange pressure or tightness in his head was somewhat released. The damage to the hallway had spread further, moving ever so slightly towards him. Caved in walls and rotting floorboards gave way to more of that terrible emptiness. Books and paintings fell through the gaps and Gabriel suddenly felt like a part of him had gone missing.

 

_Am I merely a butterfly who has deluded himself into thinking he was once a man?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finals.  
> Please.  
> I amn only a little creeture.


	10. Gabriel is Beckoned by the Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!

Gabriel jolted out of his slumber to stiff limbs and an aching head. He wriggled deeper into the soft, warm material. At some point during his little booze induced nap, someone had placed him back into his habitat.

 

Immediately his gaze was drawn to the brightly colored flowers and bottle-cap full of water. He stumbled over to them and promptly dunked his head into the water.

 

_Huh, turns out that whatever hole I breath through isn’t on my face… Also, note to self, don’t drink anything fermented, apparently butterflies are fucking lightweights… Dying of alcohol poisoning is not on my to-do list… If I’d gone and croaked, that lady would have had an… interesting time explaining to the hatchlings why Mr. Butterfly went to the “Great Big Meadow in the Sky”..._

 

After a few more moments of mental rambling neck-deep in a bottle cap of sugar water, Gabriel drank his fill and moved on to the flowers. He ran his tarsi and remaining antenna in order to appreciate the flavor and texture of the blooms. All sorts of feel-good chemicals were rushing through his tiny brain at all this positive stimuli. Before he knew what he was doing, he had unfurled his proboscis and begun drinking fervently from each flower. By the time his feeding frenzy was over, Gabriel was covered in so much pollen that he could pass as an incredibly content cheese puff, cheerfully fluttering and chirping about.

 

He nearly jumped out of his exoskeleton when a tiny, floating creature lightly tapping the mesh side of his enclosure. Every instinct screamed that the creature a few inches away from him was a highly dangerous predator that could “ _tearwingssmasheggsbitecrushkill”_ at any moment despite them being similar in size (discounting what was left of Gabriel’s wingspan). Before Gabriel could flee from or, if he was particularly daring, attempt to scare away the looming specter of death before him, it spoke in a shrill, scratchy voice.

 

_Don’t eat me! I taste terrible! I’m skinny, bitter, and full of bile! If you eat me I’ll probably give you indigestion!_

 

“Hey… don’t freak out! I come in peace, or whatever. I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk and have some innocent fun!”

 

Gabriel let down his guard and decided to humor the strange creature. His body released pheromones that communicated “ _trustfriendlinessacceptance”._ He fluttered his wings invitingly, opening and displaying them in such a way that communicated general willingness to share a perch or to flock rather than a desire to intimidate or seduce. Gabriel most certainly did not want to accidentally enter a courtship with the amiable hellion before him. He made sure to bob his head in a decidedly human gesture just in case the creature did not understand butterfly body language.

 

The creature gave a gleeful whoop and flew over the rim of and into Gabriel’s habitat. In a fit of daring and some strange social urges in his butterfly brain, Gabriel ran his undamaged antenna over the part of the forehead where the creature’s antennae would have been had they been another butterfly, taking in the creatures scent and releasing some pleasant and self-identifying pheromones.

 

“That tickles, ya’ little weirdo! Of course one of Nooroo’s patron animals would be weird, especially one that seems preeeetty magical. The dork used to always go on about how beautiful and gentle and majestic his animals were, but whose animals drink whatever sugary or minerally rich liquid they find (including bodily fluids, yuck)? It certainly wasn’t my kittens!”

 

_What?! I would not stoop so low as to ingest any random liquid I find. I have standards! Also, did you just say Noo-_

 

Gabriel’s train of thought was cut off by the little floating feline beginning a tirade about cheese and how cats were obviously superior to all other patron animals or familiars with a tacked on “no offense, though”.

 

Gabriel let out a few irritated clicks and fluttered his wings dismissively.

 

_What an annoying little prick… If this is how I sound when I monologue, no wonder I’m so lacking in the friend department… I wonder if those human hatchlings seem so fond of me because my monologues just sound like cute nonsensical animal-noises to them…_

 

Gabriel was started from his (metaphorical) navel gazing and downward spiral into self-loathing and a minor existential crises by the sensation of the strange creature licking him.

 

_W-what? Is it trying to eat me or something?! No, wait, it seems rather… cat-like… it’s grooming me?_

 

Gabriel was sorely tempted to bat the cat-beast away from him, but he’d rather not draw the ire of the bizarre predator that seemed to have taken a liking to him. That didn’t stop him from occasionally clicking and trilling irritably occasionally during the process. Eventually, the cat-beast stopped, seemingly pleased with its work. Gabriel was now free of pollen, and he was instead covered in cat-beast spit and filled with annoyance and more than a little embarrassment.

 

_I can clean myself, you know! Well… actually I.. can’t, b-but there are ways I can be cleaned that aren’t so demeaning! I never thought I’d actually be in a scenario where I’d be wishing for that damned Q-tip as an alternative!_

 

The little beast then went back to rambling about various types of cheese, occasionally stopping to playfully bat at Gabriel’s undamaged antenna and knead at his sides whilst purring excitably.

 

Gabriel was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice the blonde figure entering the room and conversing with the little beast, but what happened next did catch his attention. The teen had shouted some phrase at the top of his lungs, and the little beast had flown to the blonde at breakneck speeds. To Gabriel’s shock and dawning horror the teen’s outfit was changed via the flash of a mysterious light into what was clearly (even in Gabriel’s god-awful vision) a black super suit and mask that included a tail and little cat-ears. If Gabriel still had a lower jaw, it would have dropped.

  


_Oh shit, of fucking course the human hatchling who ends up pet-sitting me is one of the superheroes who regularly whoops my ass. Somewhere, someone is laughing at my expense, me, cosmic chew-toy! I- wait… when did I start thinking of children as hatchlings?_

 

————-______________————

 

Elsewhere in Paris a stern Detective pored over the sparse evidence recorded in a case file. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and she steepled her long, elegant fingers. She glared at the phone transcripts and screenshots of various traffic and security camera feeds. Any knowledge of Mr. Agreste’s usual schedule and behaviors along with his location and actions during the time frame in which he was most likely to have disappeared was sparse at best.

 

Detective Kaur started at the sound of a gentle knocking on her open office door. She turned her steely gaze from the papers in front of her to the diminutive figure in her door-frame. Kaur’s expression softened slightly, and a pleasant smile spread across her face.

 

“Bani, I’m heading out for the night.”

 

“Are you going to that AA thing again, Michelle?”

 

“Yeah, i-it’s really helping me deal with my feelings of um, guilt and s-shame?”

 

“That’s wonderful, I’m glad you’re getting help… This sort of job takes a toll on everyone they just… respond.. in different ways… you shouldn’t hate yourself for what you did in a moment of weakness…

 

Doctor Beaufort nodded her head, fiddling with the buttons on her tweed jacket. The pale sleeve of her lab coat peeked out of her bag. Detective Kaur’s nails lightly tapped against the heavy wooden surface of her desk.

 

“Goodnight, Doctor”

 

“Goodnight, Detective”

 

The women shared a tired smile before Doctor Beaufort briefly looked at her watch, squeaked in alarm, and bolted out the door. Light from the setting sun shone through the windows, painting the room in fiery shades of red and orange. Detective Kaur began poring over a map of the area surrounding the Agreste mansion, looking for spots where a possible kidnapper could have staked out the home and infiltrated it, or where Mr. Agreste could have easily snuck out undetected.

 

Before she left for the evening and gave in to exhaustion and eye strain she noticed something odd about a vacant property near the mansion. She looked into the history of the unoccupied home and found that all records of ownership had been scrubbed clean of any information aside from the fact that someone had ownership. Detective Kaur would bet her bottom dollar that the “someone” had forked over a lot of hush money in order to remain anonymous. The building also had seen very little by way of squatters, vandals, looters, or rowdy partygoers making use of the relatively isolated space. There were no recent health and safety inspections on record and there seemed to have been a lot of activity from morally dubious “independent contractors” in the area about two years ago.

 

Monthly shipments of food and other materials were automatically made to “businesses” in the general vicinity that ended up having never ordered said shipments or not existed at all. It all seemed incredibly suspicious. Someone was operating out of that vacant property and didn’t want to public or the police to know. Even if it didn’t help her find out what happened to Mr. Agreste, it would certainly lead her to the base of some sort of secretive activity that was most likely illicit or immoral in some way.

 

Detective Kaur walked out of her office that day with determination and curiosity burning bright in her eyes. She would investigate this strange property further, hopefully making a break in her current high-profile case. Unlike the people involved in this who had been paid off and manipulated, she would not let sleeping dogs lie.

 

————-______________————

 

That night Gabriel dreamed of the hallway again.

 

He shuddered at the vague memories of his previous dream, feeling terribly small and exposed amongst the looming shelves and slowly deteriorating walls.

 

In the void he could see in the gaps in the crumbling walls there were terrible things writhing in the distance. Horrors of many eyes and wailing mouths that were beyond human comprehension lurked outside of his little pocket of relative normalcy. They were watching him intently. The mere sight of them nearly reduced him to a gibbering wreck, and he resolved to not gaze into the void, lest he lose what little mind he had left.

 

After taking a bit of time to collect himself, stop metaphorically frothing at the mouth, and stand, Gabriel decided to carefully investigate the contents of the shelves and the decorations on the walls. He hesitantly reached out and touched one of the books, and he suddenly found himself sitting in a dimly lit library. He was sobbing uncontrollably over a paper titled “The Rich History of Clothing and Socioeconomic Status”.

 

_Ah, a typical Tuesday night._

 

He was pulled himself out of what he presumed to be a memory and made his way to another. Before he could register where he was or what he was doing, Gabriel got a face full of croissant and lukewarm coffee. Gabriel’s face was then introduced to a rather large bush as he fell off of a moving bicycle.

 

_Ok. Yeah, trying to eat breakfast while riding my bike to class was a terrible idea. In my defense, I hadn’t slept in three days. Hindsight’s twenty twenty, I guess… At least, the croissant was still good...._

 

Gabriel left the memory and began to freak out a little bit about the fact that he seemed to be inside a representation of his own mind, which was slowly being destroyed.

 

_Wait… I can move my memories away from the destruction to buy myself time! I am truly a genius!_

 

Gabriel then proceeded to lug as many books as he possibly could to the edge of the hallway furthest from the void’s influence. Tragically, he had to make some difficult decisions what with his limited abilities and limited time ( _I can’t sleep forever or stop the progression of this shit_ ). Calculus and memories regarding the usage of microwaves had to go so that Gabriel could safely transport several villainous monologues about getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous

 

_These seem important. Probably related to my tragic backstory and motivation for turning evil that I can’t recall. Apparently I can make a wish with these magical accessories? Sign me the fuck up!_

 

Eventually Gabriel had accumulated a handful of sizeable stacks of books and images at the far end of hallway. They were haphazard and looked like they were only a gust of air away from toppling on top of him.

 

Gabriel proudly puffed out his tiny little chest. The details of the room seemed to blur and meld together.

 

Gabriel woke up.

  


————-______________————

 

The remaining few days until Nino came back from his vacation passed by relatively quickly. Most of Gabriel’s time was spent basking, awkwardly tolerating the “ _mini-predator”_ , and surreptitiously trying to slurp up some of the “ _Calico_ _human-hatchling’s_ ” sugary beverages during late-night anime binges.

 

Eventually Nino returned to pick “Subwoofer” up and take him home, gushing to Adrien about his “totally awesome!” trip.

 

Later that day Nino went out with Gabriel perched on his shoulder. The teen weaved through the crowds that occupied the streets on that balmy summer evening until he reached a modestly sized office building. Inside the building were various rooms rented out by various companies and small groups for various activities and meetings. Nino (and his little passenger) made their way past conference rooms and offices until they reached a door opening into a rather large, heavily occupied, and excessively decorated room.

 

Gabriel stared at the bizarre display from his vantage point on Nino’s shoulder. Posters in garish colors adorned the walls of what appeared to be a re-purposed conference room. If Gabriel could read them, he was fairly certain he’d be mentally retching at whatever excessively positive messages were scrawled on them in glitter pen. A large circle of folding chairs sat in the middle of the room. There was a long table draped in a tacky tablecloth and laden in baked goods and assorted chips and fruits sitting in the corner. Quite a few people had congregated around the table, but there was still a significant portion of the room’s occupants milling about.

 

“A-alright everyone!,” a high, breathy voice said,” Let’s get this session of Akumatized Anonymous started... I see some unfamiliar faces, and I’d personally like t-to, um, welcome our newest members. Remember, there’s no shame here, only acceptance!”

 

The various attendees began sitting in the metal chairs.

 

_A-Akumatized Anonymous? They do realized they share an acronym with-_

 

“For all the newcomers, I’m Doctor Michelle Beaufort, although some of you might already recognize me as Virulenza.”

 

The room was filled with murmurs for a few moments, including some awkward laughter. Gabriel cringed internally, recalling the utter fiasco that was Virulenza, the germaphobe mortician. Most of the villains he created had failed and caused mayhem and destruction, Virulenza had been difficult to control and generally… nauseating. Her initial powerset of a painful paralytic secreted from her skin had seemed like it would be rather effective in subduing Paris’ superheroes and taking their Miraculous. Everything had gone according to plan up until the moment she began to go through “mitosis” and created replicas that had various horrific mutations. Recordings of the resulting mayhem were rumored to have been collected and studied by the World Health Organization.

 

“Like many of you I’ve had to grapple with lingering trauma from my akumatization, despite me not remembering it. My poison ended up spreading to some people’s throats and lungs and well… thank goodness Ladybug’s magic yo-yo undoes all damage done by an akuma… Even with the damage undone, people still flinch when I touch them. My spouse was one of my first victims. I-I’m scared for our marriage. I’m scared of myself.”

 

A slightly unkempt man in a fedora walked up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

“Thank you for starting our session this week, Doctor. It takes a lot of courage to open yourself up to others like this. Our Akumatizations have hurt us in many terrible ways. After being turned into Pigeon Man, I felt violated and used. Hawkmoth took my love of beautiful, majestic pigeons and my righteous anger and twisted it into something evil.”

 

_Pigeons aren’t really that noble…. Pigeons… those fucking birds! Disgusting creatures, devouring innocent insects like it’s nothing! Wait… you felt violated?_

 

Another person stepped forward from the crowd and began talking as well.

 

“Oh yeah it really messed me up too that he was able to get inside my head and manipulate my feelings like that. Some of the feelings that Hawkmoth has taken advantage of are very personal and private, y’know? It’s pretty terrifying to realize that even your fairly normal negative emotions can be used to turn you into an actual monster that can maim and kill people!”

 

“My friends still walk on eggshells around me sometimes after I got akumatized. Hell, I think most of us can agree that they’ve felt the need to suppress even the slightest bit of negativity out of fear of being akumatized again and hurting someone!”

 

More and more people chimed in about the various issues their akumatization caused for their relationships, their deep shame at their “personal weakness”, how they were terrified of their own feelings, and how they felt like their sense of privacy and security had been shattered by Hawkmoth barging into their mind like it was nothing.

 

_This… is… ummm… Shit…_

 

Gabriel’s discomfort skyrocketed, and he felt the sudden urge to go find a nice tree to hide in, far far away from the evidence of the ridiculous amount of human suffering that he’d caused with his villainous antics.

 

“Guys! Is that an akuma?!,” a voice from the crowd cried. Everyone froze and turned to stare at Gabriel, who was still perched on Nino’s shoulder.

 

Nino held out his hands in a placating gesture, and then slowly picked Gabriel up off his shoulder. The teen cupped the butterfly carefully in his hands, displaying the insect’s normal not-eerily-glowing wings.

 

“Don’t worry, dudes, that’s my pet emotional support butterfly He’s, like, totally normal aside from being kinda big for a butterfly and acting all grumpy.”

 

Certain moments when Nino has taken “Subwoofer” out on excursions that had seemed strange but not really significant made sense in a terrible sort of way to Gabriel. People always acting excessively courteous on the streets. The sudden dreadful stillness that fell over when anyone so much as dropped their ice cream or missed the bus, Parisians waiting with bated breath to see if that person would be akumatized. Nino cleaving a gap in crowds like a hot knife through butter whenever “Subwoofer” was perched in a less-than inconspicuous place on his person, most people flinching away or doing double-takes at the sight of them. Almost everyone in Paris had begun to instinctively fear and avoid butterflies.

 

_Holy shit, I think my supervillainy has collectively traumatized the entire population of a major city. Did Nino have to overcome any subconscious fear of butterflies when he took me in? I guess I underestimated the amount of bravery and compassion this hatchling has. He took in an injured animal (me) whose kind that was used by a madman (also me) to terrorize numerous people, including himself personally, and nursed it back to health (god, this situation is so weird and fucked up)._

 

While was trying to process things, Nino began introducing “Subwoofer” to the other AA attendees. Some briefly commented on how Hawkmoth was giving butterflies and moths a bad rap and how the insects imbued with his magic were also victims of his manipulation. Others gushed about how cute “Subwoofer” was. More than one person confessed to having developed lepidopterophobia and expressed a desire to overcome their fear by exposure to the fluttery menaces in a safe, controlled environment.

 

A handful of people even asked to pet “Subwoofer”, and Gabriel couldn’t muster the motivation to try and get away from the gentle head pats. He did, however, feel the strong urge to curl up into a little ball and pretend like he’d never been hatched. Gabriel wasn’t sure if the unpleasant warmth and ache in his exoskeleton was due to embarrassment and shame or him overheating after being in the sun for a great length of time earlier that day due to his tiny insect body not being able to thermoregulate.

 

_If they knew who I really am, they’d surely hate me, and they’d have every right to. They’ve all suffered so much because of me. What ends could I have had that would justify this much pain?_

 

Whatever was said during the rest of the meeting was beyond Gabriel’s comprehension. He was too distracted by guilt to try and continue to decipher the language that he was gradually losing proficiency in.

 

Guilt and dread writhed within him like twin vipers.

 


	11. Gabriel Gets the Cold Shoulder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, Mr_BlackCat for helping write this chapter! 
> 
> Warning: There's a certain scene in this chapter that gets rather intense/disturbing. I'm going to add a line asterisks (*) before and after for people who want to skip it.

As days slipped into weeks and weeks slipped into months, the nights became as cold as Gabriel Agreste’s missing persons case. While the meager evidence pointed towards foul play, no one could be sure of the man’s location or whether he was even alive at all. That didn’t stop people from drawing their own conclusions on web sleuth forums creating theories upon theories upon theories.

 

In contrast, the Human Trafficking case was running as hot as ever. Nearly every bust brought Paris’ heroes and eventually various law enforcement agencies towards closer to the people running the show from behind the scenes. They’d pulled a thread that was part of an elaborate international tapestry of exploitation that was being unraveled bit by bit. People who could not properly identify themselves rescued from the traffickers were compared to various missing persons cases in hopes of reuniting them with their loved ones and finding a home for them to return to. Chat Noir in particular seemed especially invested in finding the identities of these people. Many of them were traumatized and very far from home. Some had been held captive for years. Some didn’t even remember their old homes and lives. At least they had made it through their ordeal alive, unlike far too many others who were murdered or died due to unsafe and unhealthy conditions and neglect.

 

Gabriel was oblivious to this, only really noticing that Nino seemed to come and go at odd hours more often, usually crying and venting to him afterwards. Words held little meaning to Gabriel these days unless he concentrated as hard as he could, but he could still notice the teen’s distress and tried to be as comforting as possible.

 

Gabriel would gently pat the teen with his tarsi and make encouraging chirps and wing flaps. He’d sit and listen intently as the teen told him stories of heartbreak and human cruelty. Nino couldn’t help being so compassionate, after all. While it made him invested in his hero work and good at working with distressed civilians, it made seeing so much suffering all the more painful to him. Every time he used his shield to protect children, ripped from their homes and thrown into abuse and slavery, during rescue and retrieval missions, he couldn’t help but think of Chris safe at home. He couldn’t help but be grateful his brother was safe while feeling heartbroken at the pain of these children, who probably had families desperately missing them. Secretly, he expressed his desire to find some way to help the men, women, and children who were rescued after they’d been turned over to authorities and medical professionals to Gabriel. Gabriel could do little more than listen. It made him feel rather impotent and useless in his inability to understand the situation, give advice, or even provide tangible assistance. He was only one butterfly, after all.

 

————-______________————

 

“Do you have any sevens?”

 

Gabriel stared blankly at the cards in front of him before glaring at the teens sitting around him.

 

_Why did you bring me to game night again? I can’t play any of these games?? I don’t have hands?! Hell, I can’t even read the cards or game instructions!_

 

“Um, I feel like we need to address the.. Butterfly in the room... Nino, I know you want your pet to feel included and all that, but I’m not sure this is a good idea…”

 

“I concur, it seems rather ridiculous to expect a butterfly to participate in these games. Does he, if the insect even is a ‘he’, even understand what we are doing?”

 

“Just humor him, Kagami, Nino has taken to treating ‘Subwoofer’ like his firstborn child. He spoils the little guy rotten.”

 

“Bruh, I’m right here. While I love my little dude, I don’t spoil him!”

 

_I’m not spoiled!_

 

“Oh, alright then, how many times have you called me in the past month asking for leftover fruit, sugar, and flowers from my family’s bakery so you could give ‘widdle Subby-wubby’ his favorite foods?”

 

A smirk slowly spread across Marinette’s face, as Kagami fought to keep her poker face in check and Alya nodded in solemn agreement. Alya had seen this behavior in person, and she could confirm that Nino spoiled “Subwoofer” more than Mayor Bourgeois spoiled Chloe. She’d witnessed the little butterfly use the same  “I’m pathetic” or the “I’m cute and angry!” tactics to gain attention and food as her younger siblings.

 

“She has a point, hun”

 

_I simply have… refined tastes… It’s not my fault that he noticed that I like strawberries. Those sweet, succulent stra… Shit! Snap yourself out of it Gabriel! Resist the fruity siren’s song!_

_Ughhhhh, why did she have to bring up the baby-talk and the demeaning, but well meaning, nick-name? Subwoofer was bad on its own… but this??_

 

“Touche, dudette, touche… ”

 

“Um guys, when should I ask Nathalie and Mr. G to pick me up?”

 

“Around ten, probably… Oh! By the way, Alya, are you still up for hosting next week?”

 

“Of course! My parents will be out on a date, Nora will be at a boxing tournament in another city, and the twins will be having a sleepover at their friend’s house, which means we’ll have my place all to ourselves! Hours of fun for everyone!”

 

“Ohhhh, nice rhyme!”

 

_It’s not that good. I can’t believe I’m saddled with these los… you know what? I’m the loser… The closest thing I have to a friend is some human hatchling that thinks I’m his pet. Even before I became a butterfly the only people I recall interacting with on a regular basis are professors and my parents! As a villain people only really talked to me because I turned them into villains, effectively forcing them to interact with me. All I’ve done besides sitting alone in my room making clothes is be a supervillain. Where has that gotten me? Stuck as a fucking butterfly watching some assholes play a card game. This is what my life has come to! Hell, maybe I’m better off like this! At least I get a decent amount of sleep and people talk to me!_

 

“Let’s get back to the game, guys! Adrien, put that away… we’re playing Go-Fish, not Yu-Gi-Oh...”

 

Adrien pouted and stopped strapping the “Duel Disk” to his arm, surreptitiously slipping a Blue Eyes, White Dragon card back into his pocket. One day, he would have the chance to use that slip of laminated goodness.

 

Eventually, the group’s enthusiasm heated game of Go-fish waned and they decided to move on to other forms of entertainment. Gabriel watched in confusion from the kitchen table as the teens pulled out some video game controllers.

 

_What are those… shiny things?_

 

“Oh, wait dudes. I gotta get my little buddy in here on the fun!”

 

Nino promptly made his way over to Gabriel, picked him up, and placed the irritable insect on his controller.

 

_You call this fun! This tastes of sweat, Cheeto dust, and shame. Truly awful… A heinous scourge upon my metaphorical palate. I’ve tasted enough of it during my brief stint as a convenience store clerk! Drinking that expired milk, slushee, and energy drink combo on a dare was a terrible idea, worst night of my life!_

 

 _“_ Look, little dude, you get a first row seat for my totally sick victory!”

 

“Psssssh, as if. I’ve been practicing for weeks, training, planning! My victory is assured! Behold! My fiery gloves of vengeance and above average wrist support!"

 

Kagami pulled on some fingerless gloves with flame decals and struck a dramatic pose while Nino casually twirled his controller in his hand, much to Gabriel’s dismay, in some form of playful intimidation tactic. The other teens managed to keep straight faces before breaking down into raucous laughter. Gabriel managed to not pass out. He did feel rather dizzy and nauseous though, which was a pretty amazing sensation for someone with multiple stomachs and a simplistic nervous system. He was silently thankful for his lack of a gag reflex and mouth.

 

 _“_ Okayyyy guys, let’s actually get started.”

 

The teens made their way through various game menus and selected their avatars. As the match started, Marinette began giving a hushed play-by-play to Alya and Adrien, discussing the competitors’ likely game strategies. She personally preferred characters with ranged attacks, but she couldn’t deny the effectiveness of the more close-range fighters Kagami and Nino selected if utilized with a proper play style. Gabriel didn’t really notice this going on or particularly care. He was just mesmerized by the bright colors that flashed across the screen. The blurry blobs that his eyes perceived vaguely registered in the back of his mind as being familiar.

 

_The colorsss…. so nice, not predators colors… warm, friendly colors…. Maybe those colorful things are other butterflies? That would be wonderful! We could migrate together and roost together for the winter, resting peacefully inside a hollow tree until the snows pass… The world smells of rot and dirt and cold right now… I… just need to be with others… and sleep until the world smells of flowers again and is bright with colors. Then I ca- no! I will not think about mates and eggs! I have more important things to worry about! Like finding a way to turn back… I don’t want this spring to be my last… I have to resist the sweet siren song of..._

 

Nino let out a groan as Kagami’s character did their victory pose. He gently picked up Gabriel off of the ( _foul)_ controller and put the ruminating butterfly onto his shoulder.

 

 _“_ Oh my gosh! That was amazing!”

 

Marinette gleefully bounced up and down on the balls for her feet, clasping Kagami’s hands in her own. Kagami blushed slightly and grinned, giving a nonchalant shrug.

 

“I learned from the best.”

 

“Good game, dudette! That grab you did at the end was totally sick!”

 

Nino gave Kagami a friendly pat on the shoulder.

 

“You were a wonderful opponent, as well! I’m glad I got to compete against you… dude…”

 

Kagami did an awkward “finger guns” hand motion before sitting on the arm rest of the couch next to Marinette. Kagami handed her controller to Marinette and Nino handed his controller to Alya. Alya gave Marinette a playful wink.

 

“Don’t go hold back, girl. I want to see how well I hold up against the… game master!”

 

All of a sudden, the television turned off, and a chorus of groans emanated from the group of teenagers. Soon, the lights and all other electronic appliances hooked up to the Parisian power grid also failed.

 

“Is it the cold?”

 

“Eh, probably…”

 

“Anyone want to break out some candles and wind up flashlights?”

 

“Sure! I can dig around for some board games, or we could play charades or something?”

 

_Where’d they go?! T-the other butterflies, they’re gone! Why… where are they!? They were weird and cold and scentless b-but… I need… I need to… go… gotta find them… gotta find… gotta… warmplacesafeplacegoodroost… largegroupmigratesafenopredators…_

 

————-______________————

 

At some point during game night, Gabriel had managed to slip away from the enthused teenagers. He felt stifled indoors. Something deep inside him was telling him to flee and find a safe place amongst other butterflies to spend the winter.

 

It had started out as a tiny little nuisance in the back of his mind, like a mild itch that he could not scratch. Eventually he’d find himself eating in larger quantities and staring longingly out windows or trying to do more than glide on his tattered wings. On an intellectual level he knew that attempting to migrate would be a terrible idea, and not just because of his inhibited flight capabilities. He was afraid that, should he give in and begin migrating and roosting with other butterflies, that he’d forget his humanity much more quickly than before. There was a very real chance that once he gave himself completely to the world of color and nectar, he would choose to stay there for the rest of his life, even if he did retain his memories. A life of doing little more than eating, flying, and responding to basic stimuli seemed alarmingly appealing at times. It would be so easy to simply forget, to slip away into a life without complex thoughts or concern for anything outside of one’s immediate future and surroundings.

 

Gabriel wandered the dimly lit halls, suppressing his restlessness. Eventually he came upon a window that was slightly propped open by a small twig. Unable to resist the urge to flee to parts unknown, Gabriel wriggled his way through the crack. The movement caused by Gabriel’s little “escape” knocked the stick loose. Gabriel jumped at the sound of the window slamming shut behind him.

 

_Shit._

**************

Gabriel desperately tried to reopen the window to no avail. His limbs were too small and fragile to actually lift the wooden frame and heavy pane of glass. Any force generated by him charging at and head butting the window only resulted a sore and slightly cracked exoskeleton and a tiny blue smear on the glass.

 

_C-can butterflies get a concussion? I’ve really fucked myself over this time, haven’t I? I can’t fly away from this windowsill and I can’t get back in. Climbing down the wall is too great of a risk. What the hell do I do? Hopefully someone will notice I’m gone and come looking for me!_

 

Gabriel felt something cold and damp land on his head. He looked up and was met with tiny white flurries falling from the sky.

 

_Of course it would start snowing early this year. Just my luck, I suppose._

 

He tried to move to a more well-protected corner of the windowsill in an attempt to get away from the snow that was falling with increasing intensity. The howling of icy winds tore through the air around him. Gabriel curled in on himself, shivering and attempting to use his wings to shield the rest of his body from the cold.

 

The snow kept falling, pelting his tiny body. Some melted and re-froze, creating a stiff, painful layer of ice across his exoskeleton. He couldn’t move his wings anymore, they hung heavy on his back like sheets of lifeless metal.

 

_Everything hurts… so much… god… I’m so tired… so cold...why isn’t anyone looking for me? Why haven’t they… found me… god I’m worthless…. I… can’t… I cant fucking even… fuck…_

 

Everything felt so heavy and cold. All he felt was the cold sprucing through is numb little body. It burned and he desperately wished he could cry in that moment. All he could to was tremble and chirp feebly. He tried to shove his face into the fuzz around his abdomen, but even that was not spared from the cold and damp. The little hairs had frozen into stiff clumps that stabbed at his face.

 

_Heh… kinda miss… having… teeth… mhmm… sleepy...ca… can’t mov…. move m’ legs… haha… pins and needles… pinsh… pins.. nee… the.. there goes my… antenna… does… doesn’t even… hurt… just… snap… heh…_

 

Gabriel stared dumbly at the snapped off tip of his antenna before him, a puddle of half-frozen hemolymph congealing around the lobed portion of the appendage. He sluggishly tried to move his forelimbs to pick it up and reattach it. Fumbling with his brittle forelimbs was met with an ominous crackling noise. Before he could even properly register what was happening, one of his forelimbs began to crack. Each time he applied pressure to it it got worse and worse until it too had broken off.

 

_Oh… oh no… I gotta… I gotta keep em sa… safe… why… doesn’t.. doesn’t… it… it… not hurt? I’m… so scared… so… scared… I… I want my… ma’…. where… so… cold… m’ sc… scared… s’ dark in here… dark… don’... don’ feel… so bad… jus’ need a… nice… sleep… so quiet… so quiet…_

 

Perhaps it was a byproduct of his fading consciousness, the misfiring of a synapse or some desperate delusional subconscious desire for comfort, but Gabriel felt a strange sensation. What sounded almost like a voice calling out through the mists of time and space carried across the winds.

 

“Do not cry forsaken one,

You will see another sun,

Do not wail or weep,

There is no pain in sleep,

Do not cry and do not keen,

For the people we might have been,

That future has been ripped from us now,

But here is not your final bow,

Will you let things run their course?

Will you show cruelty or remorse?

Perhaps one day a curse will break,

Perhaps a choice you shall make,

But now we sit until you wake…

Now we wait until daybreak…”

 

The voice seemed both familiar and alien as it melodically wafted through the air. Was this song a ballad or dirge or something in between? Only time would tell.

 

Gabriel felt something that reminded him distantly of a hand gently stroking the back of his head. He leaned i to the comforting touch as he slipped away into the murky depths of unconsciousness.

 

He was oh so very cold. An icy numbness spread through him. He couldn’t really feel much of anything anymore.

 

He could almost make out the sound of a window opening.

 

 

 

*********

 

 

————-______________————

 

Gabriel woke up to the soft murmur of human voices. Some small part of him balked at how foreign the sound of his former species’ vocalizations sounded now.

 

He tried to wriggle around a little, but found that things were a bit… lopsided. His left forelimb was just… gone past the second joint. One of his mid-legs was missing a tarsus and the other was gone entirely. He then notice his antenna.

 

_Oh, not my antenna, my sweet beautiful antenna! How am I supposed to smell or communicate properly?!_

 

Much of the damaged areas were wrapped in what appeared to be makeshift bandages made of napkins and other small pieces of paper and fabric. Gabriel also realized that a miniature wool blanket had been added to his usual sleeping arrangements. It was an oddly soothing shade of pale blue and its fuzzy texture felt nice against his aching body.

 

He wrapped himself tighter in the warm, soft fabric that felt as safe and comforting as a cocoon.

 

_Perhaps I can sleep a little longer…_

 

————-______________————

While the teenagers relaxed and played games, Detective Kaur was busy. Trusting her gut, she had investigated the strange property next to the Agreste mansion. When she tried the door, Kaur found it was locked. Luckily, she had some experience with locks. After quickly picking the lock, Kaur let herself inside the room. She had struck gold.

 

_Something fishy was definitely going on here. There’s enough food and water here for a person to survive for several days._

 

The inside of the room was rather boring. The crates of food and water were neatly stacked against the wall. Glancing up, she saw what could possibly be a large window or hole, but the metal aperture was closed, leading her to speculate on the purpose and how to open it. There was a slightly bloodied suit crumpled on the floor next to an ornate blade, which was very troubling. Dread prickled in the back of Kaur’s mind. Something terrible had happened here, and she was worried that it would happen again. Continuing to look around the room for clues into who had used the building, Kaur looked down to see a purple stone lying on the floor. It was smooth and glossy and unlike any jewel she had ever seen. Walking over, she picked the stone up to peer at it more closely.

 

“Oh, what’s this? Very curious. I think I’ll take this back to the station along with the clothes. Perhaps Doctor Beaufort can run some tests.”

 

Pocketing the gem, Kaur stood up and walked to the door across the room. Hoping it was unlocked, she twisted the handle. The door quietly opened and lead to a dimly-lit tunnel.

 

_Should I go back? I don’t know what could be down the tunnel. If there’s a killer living here, I don’t want to get caught with no escape. If I leave now, though, the crook hanging out here might leave._

 

Pulling out her police-issued firearm and clicking the safety off, Kaur steeled herself for the walk down the tunnel. Taking a deep breath, she began quietly slipping down the hallway. There was nothing to see besides a few candles here and there to prevent a person from tripping in the dark. Pausing every few seconds to listen for footsteps or other signs of another person nearby, Kaur made her way at a moderate pace. Finally she reached another door. This was different from the previous door as it was taller and fit within the frame perfectly. Checking her gun one last time, Kaur pushed the door open.

 


	12. Gabriel Gets a New Hat

Gabriel awoke from a terrible nightmare, trembling and chirping in mindless terror. He wasn’t sure how much time he spent consumed by terror and a strange sense of loss. Part of it was probably connected to his limbs, but it felt like he had lost something more and he wasn’t sure why. He was pulled out of his panic by the sensation of a finger gently stroking his head. Gabriel leaned into the comforting touch, and felt himself getting picked up and slowly rocked back and forth, cupped in the palm of a hand. 

 

“Shhhh, don’t worry, little dude. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m so s-sorry…. I, like, should have kept a closer eye on you, and you almost… I’m just really glad you’re safe, dude. You’ve been a great friend these past few months, and I don’t know where I’d be without you…”

 

_ Why are you so sad, hatchling? I mean, my situation is truly horrendous, but you should be used to this kind of stuff now. This is what… the third time I’ve nearly died this year? I’m probably in shock though… Wait… you think I’ve been a good friend? I’m not sure if I’d consider us friends… The sentiment is nice but you clearly aren’t aware of how much of an asshat I can be (even though I am quite fashionable, handsome, and intelligent)! Not to mention I’m not sure if I still have a human lifespan… for all we know I’ll die of old age in a month or so! Wait… that might mean I’m old now?! I can’t be old yet! I still have so many strawberries to eat, so many parties to crash, so many outfits to design, so many flowe- _

 

Then, the pain and hunger hit Gabriel like a freight train. He let out a distressed chirp, and curled in on himself, trembling uncontrollably. His tiny little legs scrambled about under him as he tried desperately to stand. Instinctively, he tried to stand by putting pressure on all his limbs, including the severely injured ones only to be met with vacant air. He fell again and again, jostling his recently healed wounds and causing more pain. The injured insect began fluttering his crumpled, brittle wings and distantly felt blood rushing into the appendages and dispelling any especially worrying numbness and immobility. Nino, noticing “Subwoofer” in distress, slid a Q-tip under the front most part of the butterfly’s thorax, supporting his meager body-weight in the absence of portions of his fuzzy little legs. Gabriel wrapped his undamaged foreleg around the Q-tip and fluttered his wings gratefully. 

 

The teen gently guided Gabriel back into his habitat and onto a small plate filled with food. Gabriel grilled and clicked with glee at the sight of slightly mushy sliced fruit, flowers, and paper towels soaked in sugary beverages. To Gabriel’s dismay, he found that he was too weak to muster the energy to fully unfurl his proboscis and drink, requiring a carefully handled toothpick to unspool the appendage and guide it to a nearby price of fruit. After a few moments of sucking up nutrient-rich plant juices, Gabriel had regained enough strength to begin feeding relatively unaided, only requiring the support of the Q-tip to lean on when moving about. At some point while feeding on a flower, Gabriel had been reckless and shoved his full face into a flower rather than simply extending his proboscis to the flower and got his head stuck in the colorful little bloom. The fashion extraordinaire turned colorful invertebrate clicked and fluttered his wings in surprise. He sharply reared backwards in a misguided attempt to free himself, and snapped the flower from its stem with his head still stuck inside, properly falling right on his chitinous behind. He flailed his tiny limbs, making muffled shrieking noises until Nino gingerly pulled the flower off of Gabriel’s purple head and helped him back up.

 

_ Stupid, delicious flower… great… now my hair is even more of of a mess and my eyes are full of pollen. If only I had the physical capacity to cry… I also miss not looking like a flying, lightly toasted marshmallow… eh, at least I don’t have to shave or brush my teeth… teeth… so weird…  _

 

“Oh, by the way, here’s a hat Marinette made for you, little dude. She made it to, like, protect your head or something…”

 

Gabriel felt a soft fabric cap fall onto his head.

 

_ Yeah, because a hat makes things sooooo much better. It totally just makes my misery wash away! The stitching and knit-work are impressive, though. It’s surprisingly neat and uniform for such a ridiculously small garment… I wonder if she used miniature knitting needles… _

 

_ “ _ Bruh, so cute!”

 

Gabriel began mentally muttering to himself, contemplating the miniature hat that had been unceremoniously dropped on his chitinous head. He had a surprisingly good view of the inner lining of the hat where the accessory covered a bit of his compound eyes, which took up most of his head. This did have the unfortunate effect of making his eyes rather itchy, which was not a fun sensation to have when you’re not physically capable of blinking or rubbing at the irritated sensory organs.

 

He decided against trying to knock off the hat, it kept his head warm. After a few moments of enjoying the warmth of the hat, and staring at a nearby light fixture in appreciation of its magnificent radiance, Gabriel began to doze off again. He was vaguely aware of being picked up and placed in his resting place from earlier.

 

When he woke up again, he would try to walk unaided. It would take quite a bit of time for him to adjust to missing portions of his limbs and not being able to smell or gauge his direction without most of his antenna, but he could find a way to compensate. In the meantime, he was safe roosting and irregularly over-wintering* here.

 

————-______________————

 

Gabriel glared petulantly at the attractive, but frankly, rather intrusive butterfly in front of him. He bristled when he noticed the other butterfly glaring right back at him, fluttering his wings in what he assumed was an intimidating manner.

 

_ What are you doing in my territory?! This is my place! Beat it! Scram! Skedaddle!  _

 

He fluffed out his fuzz to make himself look larger and stamped what was left of his tiny legs for emphasis. The annoying insect in front of him did the same.

 

_ A butterfly of culture, eh? While your wing flutters may be exquisite and elaborate, I am obviously the superior one, wasp-faced rock-brained egg-muncher! Yeah, I said it! What are you gonna do about limp-wing?  _

 

Gabriel let out an extra aggressive chirp and continued to flash the brightly colored markings on his wings at the other butterfly to show he meant business. To his dismay, the other butterfly mirrored his actions almost perfectly.

 

_ I’d try to charge at you and fight you off, sap-sucker, but.. ah… I don’t really have a leg to stand on…. badum tsssssssssss… don’t judge me, humor is the only thing keeping me from falling into madness and despair. You see, I was once a man, well at least I think I was… I certainly remember doing weird shit like walking on two legs, wearing framed glass on my face, eating solid food with bones in my face-hole, and really wanting some magic jewelry for some reason...anyways… don’t eat my food or mess with my human-hatchling-thing, ok? _

 

Gabriel slumped into a slightly less antagonistic posture, and the other insect followed suit. 

 

_ Y’know… I think you’re the only one who really understands me. I look into your your deep, soulful eyes and I see a bit of myself. I-I’m sorry I called you a wasp-faced rock-brained egg-muncher! You actually seem to be rather handsome and intelligent, like me! I just have a lot of unchecked aggression and self-esteem issues. I’ve been working on handling my issues in a productive way, but, I backslid. I’m so, so sorry I took my stress and anger out on you… do you want to be friends? I hope I don’t come off as being too… spineless… haha… get it? We don’t have… spines… do you even know what a spine is? _

_ Shit, do I really know what a spine is? …It’s been so long since my skeleton has been on the inside rather than the outside…. _

 

Nino tried not to laugh at the ridiculous and oddly adorable sight before him. There was something oddly endearing about an animal not recognizing their own reflection and treating it like another animal. He wasn’t sure when the little butterfly would realize that he was in front of a mirror, if he noticed at all. The teen watched on, occasionally taking pictures of the butterfly surreptitiously as the fuzzy little insect fluttered at and attempted to touch ( what was left of his) antennae to his reflection At this point, Nino was honestly considering submitting videos and pictures to people making funny animal compilations or even starting a blog featuring the butterfly’s antics. The teen was certain that no one could resist the sheer adorableness of the grumpy little bug, and introducing more people to him (Nino felt like the butterfly was probably a dude) might even dispel the stigma that had formed around butterflies lingering in the wake of Hawkmoth’s attacks. Nino then briefly wondered why Hawkmoth hadn’t akumatized anyone these past few months, before dismissing the thought and returning to his attempts at creating a butterfly shitpost and making sure his beloved pet didn’t do anything too phenomenally stupid.

 

————-______________————

 

The sheer amount of spicy food before her filled Marinette with awe and terror. Her eyes watered when she simply looked at this Geneva convention breaking culinary chemical weaponry.

 

“Do you think this is enough to satisfy Longg? Oh, thanks for the utility belt, by the way...”

 

Kagami absentmindedly threw Marinette some plastic protective goggles before pulling her own over her eyes and slipping on some heavy-duty rubber gloves. She then began filling plastic baggies with chili powder, wasabi, sriracha sauce, whole ghost peppers, and many more tongue searing objects. Each plastic baggie was either added to a pocket of the utility belt or stowed under the teen’s bed.

 

“Um, well I remembered that almost everyone’s costumes seemed to lack pockets and thought it would be nice if we had some discreet way of carrying food for our Kwamii and various tools as both heroes and civilians. Also, that is certainly enough to… um… satisfy Longg. Heck, why don’t you ask them yourself!”

 

Marinette pulled out the Miraculous box and handed it to Kagami from a pocket in her utility belt, which was hidden under a stylishly embroidered denim jacket with holes in the pockets for easy access. A lot of Marinette’s outer wear now had small, hidden holes that were held closed by velcro that could be peeled open for access to her utility belt. 

 

Kagami opened the box, and the tiny dragon Kwamii flew out. 

 

“Ohoho! It feels faaaantastic to be awake again! How are you, dear?”

 

Kagami grinned at the delighted horned spirit hovering just above her open palm. 

 

“I’m doing just fine, Longg. Could you sample this concoction for me!”

 

“It would me my pleasure! Oho! It’s just as fiery and sharp as our blade!”

 

“Wonderful. Longg, thank you for your assistance. It’s nice to see you again… I see you eyeing my computer… You can use it as long as you don’t search anything mother might find suspicious… Yes, I know you know the password already.”

 

The Kwamii let out a joyous squeal as they flirted over the the computer and began rapidly tapping at the keyboard with their nubby little limbs. Soon the room was filled with the quiet hum of the computer’s fan as it struggled to support an incredibly high definition MMO fantasy RPG. 

 

“Longg likes the anonymity provided by the internet… they’ve actually managed to make some friends besides me and other Kwamii….”

 

“Oh, that’s really nice… maybe I should try that with Tikki sometime…”

 

Longg threw on a glossy black and began doing what vaguely resembled an enthusiastic jig on the keyboard.

 

“Huzzah! Greetings comrades! I, BlazeSlay3000 have returned to assist you in your quest to bring justice to this accursed land!”

 

Kagami inspected the belt in her hands, noticing the words from various ancient, largely dead languages sewn into the fabric with glistening silver thread.

 

“Your work? What are these for, they don’t seem to be here for purely decorative purposes?”

 

“Oh, yeah! The belt has been treated with potions and I’ve sewn spells into the fabric! This makes it so people won’t notice or be aware of you belt unless they’re specifically looking for it! It’s similar to the enchantments on the Miraculous. I also used durability and stability spells, so the belt won’t break and it’s contents won’t be jostled or broken during battle! I’ve been learning a lot of old languages for this project, since so many spells were made using these languages and will be more effective and accurate if the spells are written or spoken in their original dialect!”

 

“Woah, you seem very passionate about this project. Congrats on expanding your skills, Marinette!”

 

“Thanks! I’ve been asking my mentor if I could teach you and some of the other heroes some basic enchantments once I get a stronger grasp on spellweaving!”

 

All of a sudden, Marinette’s phone buzzed.

 

“Hm, what’s that?”

 

“Oh! It’s a text from Alya…. She sometimes sends me links to news articles she finds… oh…. oh my….”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I-I the article… it says that local authorities have discovered what they suspect it Hawkmoth’s secret hideout… they’re still trying to get past the security systems in some areas… but the main antechamber and smaller storage areas… it’s like inside of an anthill, a massive network of tunnels… and… oh…”

 

Kagami nodded in acknowledgment of what Marinette said, her brows furrowed in concern.

 

“An important development, a step towards taking down a heinous criminal… what else is there?”

 

“A… articles of clothing and a knife were found at the scene… samples of blood and hair taken at the scene genetically match up with… Mr. Agreste!”

 

“His DNA is on record? How did that happen?”

 

“Apparently there was an… incident… in his youth involving power tools and a boom box that got him arrested and nearly ended his fashion career before it began…”

 

“This… do think he’s still alive?”

 

“They’re n-not sure… The evidence points to foul play… Some people have speculated that Hawkmoth was the one who kidnapped, and possibly killed Mr. Agreste… God, this is awful…”

 

“That it is… Why would a supervillain want to kidnap a fashion designer and then not do anything for months on end? This doesn’t seem to be his MO…”

 

“I’m not sure. I… I don’t know what to think… Maybe Mr. Agreste knew too much about Hawkmoth either by chance or as a secret accomplice and had to be silenced… permanently…”

 

“Does Adrien know?”

 

“Oh… We should… we should contact him and make sure he’s okay…”

 

“As heroes or civilians?”

 

“How about… both…”

 

The two girls shared a look, removing their protective gear. They quickly transformed and leapt out the window, leaving behind them only the faint smell of smoke.

 

————-______________————

 

Adrien stood in the lobby of the police station, Nathalie’s hand heavy on his shoulder and terror clawing at his chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Over-wintering is a process similar to hibernation found in butterflies that live long enough to experience winter. They become sluggish and inactive to preserve energy, often falling into a deep sleep, and find a place that is protected from the elements to wait out winter.


	13. Gabriel Goes Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay.  
> Here's a new chapter.  
> I hope it makes your day!

Marinette and Kagami arrived at the police station that was acting as the primary base for the relevant investigations as their hero identities. A thick fog had descended on the area, smothering the streets like a thick woolen blanket. The dim light of a street lamp reflected off of a pair of wide, green eyes that seemed almost mirrored like a cat’s, piercing through the haze. A quiet clicking from the metal toes of Kagami’s boots against the pavement echoed through the nearly barren street outside the precinct. Kagami carefully rested her gloves hand on the other heroines shoulder, eyeing whoever was outside the precinct with slight suspicion. The owner of the eyes emerged from the fog, revealing an abnormally pale and twitchy Adrien.

 

Marinette quietly exhaled through her nose, and gave the blonde teen a hesitant smile. He returned the gesture with a smile as shaky and wooden as a poorly constructed tower of toothpicks.

 

“Labybug? Drakaen? I guess you heard about.. the well.. the hidden fortress that investigators found?”

 

Drakaen gave a curt nod. A concerned and slightly pensive frown flitted across her face.

 

“Yes, we heard it maybe be linked to Hawkmoth, but that is not our only concern here. We heard about y-“

 

“My father…. yeah… Thank you for your concern and all… It’s really good you heroes are here! I… needed to talk to somebody who has experience with supervillains and supernatural threats…”

 

Drakaen and Ladybug solemnly motioned for him to continue.

 

“I-I think Hawkmoth is behind my father’s disappearance… You two believe me, right?”

 

“Well, his clothes and blood were in what the police believe is Hawkmoth’s lair…”

 

Everyone present shuddered at the thought of what the inside of that lair must have been like, especially with something as gruesome as dried human blood on the floor. The stench alone would have been a little nauseating.

 

“It makes sense, but we can’t be sure until we have more evidence! Jumping to conclusions is not the best idea!”

 

Adrien nodded, wringing his hands. A timid, but painfully hopeful look bloomed across his face.

 

“Also, I… hear me out guys… I also think my father is alive… I mean, no... body was found and the blood could have come from a non-fatal injury!”

 

Kagami’s grip on Ladybug’s shoulder tightened almost imperceptibly, a slight grimace resting on her masked face. She shared a pained, knowing look with Ladybug.

 

“It’s possible…I… Adrien… just...”

 

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. There is no guarantee either way, and if he really is no longer of the living… well, you need to be prepared for that possibility.”

 

“She’s right, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try to find him and bring him back alive. Just remember that no matter how this case turns out well do our best to help with investigating and supporting you. Oh yeah, don’t forget, you can trust your friends for support if you need someone to talk to!”

 

“I know it’s not wise to get my hopes up, to bet so much on so little proof! It’s just… I know he’s alive… somehow… I can feel it! I… he needs to be rescued, to be found… wherever Hawkmoth or some other sicko is hiding him! He obviously didn’t run away on his own… there was so much blood,...”

 

Adrien’s eyes glimmered strangely in the dusky evening light, reflecting the sun’s dying rays that tore through the fog once more. His face crumpled and his skin blanched.

 

“What if… what if I’m wrong… and he’s actually dead… what if he was murdered and no one knew... what if he ran away… because he was saved of responsibility… because he didn’t want me enough to stay…”

 

Adrien’s voice hitched and the two heroines pulled the trembling boy into a group hug. It was an awkward (Ladybug now had to crouch slightly to wrap her arms around the shoulders of her, now much shorter, friends), but heartfelt gesture.

 

“No matter what happens, Adrien, you can always ask us for help. We’ll do everything in our power to help the police find your father, okay?”

 

Drakaen rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, nodding in agreement.

 

“Even if we have to cut our way through miles of steel and stone! If he’s alive and in need of rescue, we’ll save him! If he’s dead, we’ll make sure his remains are brought home so he can receive proper burial… If he ran away of his own free will… then… well…

 

“He wouldn’t deserve you or Ms. Sancoeur!”

 

“Exactly! If he’s willing to abandon the people who obviously care enough to be so invested in his well being and his responsibilities, than a stern talking to is the least he’ll need to worry about! That’s quite unlikely, though, considering the evidence… “

 

“Yeah, father didn’t seem to be doing anything more strange than his usual fare, and if he wanted to disappear, he would have done… well… a better job? At the very least he would have taken some of his money and designs, maybe something to remind him of mom. From what mom told me, before she… you know… father’s designing was his lifelong dream… she said he would spend hours talking about fashion with her…”

 

————-______________————

 

Detective Kaur glared at the old security camera footage of a figure leaving the abandoned lair, scowling.

 

“Who even is this douchebag.....”

 

She pondered the true identity of whoever had been working out of the secret underground enclave. Whoever they were, they were either very wealthy and powerful themselves or had some incredibly generous backers. Petty crooks couldn’t afford ballistic missiles and lasers. She wondered if that was how Mr. Agreste was connected to this mess. Perhaps he was willingly giving them money or was being extorted and blackmailed. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was forking over cash as a ransom for Mrs. Agreste.

 

The unknown party or parties operating there were probably at least affiliated with or admirers of the supervillain, if not being the man himself. The building had butterfly themed decorations up the wazoo. Everything was purple, silver, had a butterfly-esque shape on it or all three. Even some of the electronic doors had butterfly-shaped plates. The windows looked like butterflies too. There were multiple secret closets filled with purple butterfly themed clothing. Hell, there was even a butterfly shaped bed with blankets that had purple butterflies printed on them.

 

A colony of glowing butterflies had been found roosting in the rafters of one of the more well-lit rooms. They had baffled the team of scientists Kaur and the other investigators brought in, and were currently being studied in order to see if they had other anomalous properties.

 

Detective Kaur desperately hoped that her suspicions were wrong, that she had simply found the secret hideout of an eccentric entomologist and all she’d have to worry about was the building not being up to code and property tax. Sadly, the bloody suit had indicated otherwise. She dreaded what would be found once the doors to the lower levels and the security systems had been bypassed. Even though one of her primary directives was to locate Mr. Agreste, she did not want to find him down there because if she did he likely wouldn’t be in one piece. His case was troubling, to say the least. All the evidence they had was a single, bloody suit. By the time people noticed he was missing and the investigation had started in the Agreste mansion, it was likely that any physical evidence had been washed away by time and the cleaning staff.

 

Detective Kaur sighed, knowing that investigating these two intertwined cases would be long and difficult and would likely not have an especially happy outcome.

 

————-______________————

The chilly winter flew by like Mr. Ramier’s ever-growing flock of semi-domesticated pigeons, and they were just as simultaneously terrifying and impressive to watch for a certain fashion-loving butterfly. Said butterfly did not get to see a lot of either since it was too cold for him to go out without panicking or falling into a quasi-coma without quite a bit of pre-preparation. Most of his time was occupied with sleeping, basking under Nino’s desk lamp, and learning how to walk independently again. Anytime Nino dragged him along to AA meetings or ran into the pigeon-loving menace on the street, Gabriel nearly shit his metaphorical pants at the sight of so many birds in one place. Birds, which stared at him with their soulless freakishly intelligent eyes. He was sure they were planning numerous ways they could snatch him up and eat him. During such rare events, Gabriel often found himself hiding in Nino’s scarf whilst trying to cover his face with his own (well, when he wasn’t flapping his wings “menacingly” in some strange attempt to intimidate the much larger animals). The garments matched and were made by that baker-girl who Nino hung out with that brought food over from time to time. The scarves, along with the rest of the miniature winter ensemble that Gabriel inevitably ended up getting decked out in were comfortable and well made, yet Gabriel couldn’t help slightly resenting how adorable and gimmicky they all were.

 

_Seriously, how does she make mittens so small? It’s impressive, but goddamnit did she have to make them have little butterflies and flowers embroidered in them. How the hell does one even embroider something so small!? She’s a mad genius, I tell you!!_

 

Gabriel also noticed, to his dismay, that his memories kept getting torn away, including ones that he vaguely recalled trying to deliberately protect. Various common household appliances seemed almost completely alien to him, and any portions of Nino’s homework that he could make out with his terrible vision seemed like nonsense to him. Even basic math problems baffled him.

 

_I’m no mathematician, but I graduated highschool, damnit! I should know this shit!_

 

On rare occasions, when Gabriel was feeling particularly awful, he’d hide small portions of fruit he’d been given under some leaves in his habitat to ferment. One early spring evening, Gabriel was slurping up strawberry juice through his proboscis. He fluttered his wings as the bittersweet liquid stimulated his simplistic little nervous system. All that it took was some bright colors, sunlight, or sugary liquids to give Gabriel a hit of that sweet, sweet dopamine.

 

_Aw yeah, that’s some good shit, right there. Positively fucking delicious…. sugarsugarsugarsugarsugarsugarsugarfoooooooooooood_

 

“Hey, little dude! It’s great to see you’re awake!”

 

Gabriel mentally grumbled over being pulled out of his sugar induced stupor. He turned towards the teen, trying to look unimpressed, which was difficult because he didn’t have a proper mouth or many facial muscles in general.

 

 _“_ I was, like wondering if you’d like to hear this super cool new song I’ve been working on! It’s for my mom’s birthday! I… like… really wanted to show her how awesome I think she is. I really want her to have the best birthday ever! Chris is making some sweet cards, Alya agreed to help with decorations (she’s such an amazing girlfriend and regular friend!), and Marinette and her parents are gonna bring a cake over and… ahem… Anyways, here’s the song, little dude!”

 

Nino pulled out his laptop, turned it on and selected a music program. He pressed a couple keys and a melody began to emanate from the speakers. Nino managed to keep the sound relatively low so as to keep his mom from hearing it through his door and potentially finding out about the surprise party Nino was helping set up. While the sass tones in the song made Gabriel’s wings vibrate uncomfortably, it had a nice melody and what lyrics he could decipher in his semi-agitated state seemed genuine and appreciative. Some atrophied half-forgotten part of Gabriel’s mind was rather affected by the display of emotion. For a moment, Gabriel felt like he’d lost something very important, and he didn’t know what. It was frightening and painful, and he was hit by the possibility that he was possibly subconsciously grieving someone.

 

_I… is… I’ve forgotten so much… have I always been as alone in my human life as I thought? Were there people who loved me? Have I forgotten them… have they forgotten me? Are they wondering what happened to me...fuck… why do I care so much… why… does this stupid song make me feel this way… I just… Who was I really? Who am I… I… I can’t remember what once made me happy… sometimes I remember holding fabric in my hands and feeling happy… or holding a stick and using it to… draw? How much of me is the original me at this point? How long will it be until I’m gone completely… will anyone miss me or notice when I’m still alive but no longer myself? Oh… oh god… I’m so scared… I don’t… I don’t want to go… and become nothing more than some mindless creature only caring about food and sleep…_

 

By the time the song ended Gabriel was laying on the floor. His legs fidgeted absentmindedly with a nearby leaf and his wings drooped and trembled as he stared morosely at the floor of his habitat. He curled up and rested his fragile little head on the leaf. Nino quickly noticed the butterfly’s (relatively quiet) distress. He’d been a little concerned with “Subwoofer”’s declining amount of physical activity and vocalisations. He carefully reached into the fluffy butterfly’s habitat and began to gently pat the bummed out bug’s head. Gabriel let out a quiet indignant chirp and spread his wings out flat against the floor.

 

“Awww, does the grumpy little old dude need some more fruit?”

 

Almost immediately the little butterfly shot back  up from his resting position. Gabriel puffed up his fuzz and fluttered his wings in indignation. He stomped with his little legs and turned away in a huff.

 

_I-I’m not old! I mean, sure most butterflies only live for a few months, but I’m exceptional! I was originally a human, I think! Humans live for a really long time! That has to have carried over right? Sure, my joints ache and I’m tired all the time, but I’m sure that’s just me being sick or something! I can’t be old, because that means that I don’t have much time left, which means I wasted my entire life!_

 

Gabriel desperately tried not to think about how he seemed to be getting slower and weaker as each day went by or how sizeable patches of his wings were now lacking their colorful scales. He did not want to contemplate what it would be like be a geriatric insect. Would he become to slow and weak to flee predators? Would he become so frail and helpless that he’d need the assistance of a toothpick to guide his proboscis to food, because he was simply incapable of feeding himself rather than simply being stubborn and irritable. Would his memory loss be accelerated until he operated on instinct alone and lacked any sense of self or understanding of the world outside of occasional stimuli? He wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to find out. There was a twinge of fear in his gut as he tried to distract himself with some leaves and discarded flower petals. He liked wearing them on his head and finding out which ones best matched his wings or brought out his eyes. Unlike most butterflies he was lacking natural camouflage or general sense of discretion. The pale fuzz paired with the purple exoskeleton were apparently like neon sign for an all you can eat buffet for predators like birds. At least he had something vaguely resembling self awareness, though. At some point Nino began snapping photos of the butterfly’s endeavors, muttering about how “Marinette will, like, totally love this” and “my little dude thinks he can be fashion forward!”

 

————-______________————

 

“Hey Nino! What have you been doing lately?”

 

“I’ve been, like, raising awareness about butterflies. It’s not just bees that are disappearing at an alarming rate! Habitat loss and climate change are totally throwing these little dudes’ ability to migrate and feed wayyyy out of whack!”

 

_I agree! Butterflies are very important! I mean, look at how beautiful my wings are and uhhhhhh how good I am at pollinating stuff… Also, bees? Those stripey little hive-dwellers are so ugly, but at least they aren’t wasps! Evil, ugly bastards, those wasps!_

 

“Like, some species of butterflies will only eat from and lay eggs on certain plants. If the little dudes can’t get these plants ‘cause of, like, habitat destruction and stuff, they’ll go extinct!”

 

“Oh, what species of butterfly is Subwoofer, by the way?”

 

“Oh, huh, I’m not sure. I’m starting to wonder if my little dude is some undocumented species or whatever. He’s also, like, lived a really long time for a butterfly.”

 

_Shit… even I’m not sure what species of butterfly I’m supposed to be…. I’m not some picky-eater though! Fruit and flowers are amazing, such delicacies! I prefer strawberries, though, and their delicious fruity goodness._

 

Gabriel briefly wondered if his opinions were some weird butterfly thing or a holdover from his life as a human. He couldn’t exactly remember how much of an interest he had in insects before he became one. Oftentimes it was hard for him to tell whether his opinions and preferences were from his original mind or from the instincts he inherited with this simplistic little bug-brain. He ultimately decided to not go down an existentialist rabbit-hole today, as that usually led to him questioning just how sentient he was, what sentience really was, and if he was ever a human in the first place. Gabriel really didn’t want to contend with the possibility that his human memories were just dreams and fantasies that resulted from him living around humans for so long.

 

As the party continued and the sun moved across the sky, Gabriel occupied himself with listening to Nino’s other discussions with his friends ( _He’s gotten oddly passionate about the environment)_ and attempting to climb up the smooth side of the teen’s cup in order to steal some of his drink. After sliding down the cup several times, he managed to stay on by frantically fluttering his wings and using his remaining tarsi to cling to the surface with all his might. Finally, he began slurping up the fruity punch with his proboscis. Gabriel, after drinking his fill, slid down the cup. He then tripped and fell on his back, unable to turn himself upright.

 

_I am filled with shame, self-loathing, and fruit punch… It is really good punch, though…. Well, what are you standing around for? Help me, damnit!_

 

Nino noticed the irritable insect’s chirping and wriggling, and, with a bemused chuckle, picked the fuzzy little guy and put him back on his undamaged feet.

 

_… thanks… I appreciate your… assistance.._

 

For the next hour or so, Gabriel meandered about the party as best he could. He scaled tables and chairs, avoiding careless hands and attempting to either swipe any unattended fruit and beverages or bask in nearby light fixtures. Eventually, though, he grew frustrated with having to move so slowly and clumsily. Butterflies were not built for extensive land travel and with Gabriel’s missing limbs giving him a limp and slightly unsteady gait, walking became an irritating and arduous task. At that point he decided that he should attempt to fly again. He mentally prepared himself before leaping off an end table. Briefly, he felt like he was soaring, flapping his wings gleefully. That positive experience was shattered when he realized that his damaged wings barely generated enough lift to keep him from plummeting and his lack of proper antennae robbed him of his balance and sense of direction while airborne. Soon enough he found himself rapidly swerving into a heavily frosted confection. By the time the colorful dessert registered in his field of vision, it was too late for him to change his course. His tiny body slammed into the sweet, splattering his head and much of his thorax in frosting.

 

_Oh fuck! It’s in my eyes!_

 

His vision was filled with thick, sugary green pain. Frantically, he pulled himself away from the confection and began shaking his head back in forth in a desperate attempt to free his vision. At that moment, he desperately  missed having eyelashes and eyelids. He chirped in distress as he fell onto his side, his body laden by the weight of the frosting.

 

_Why did I try to fly, again? Why was I so filled with hubris as to attempt to touch the sky once more? Now I am covered in frosting and sadness. This is like my sixteenth birthday, but worse. Well, at least my parents aren’t here looking at me with immeasurable disappointment and shame, possibly contemplating disowning me… Am I destined to fail?_

 

Eventually, Nino found the distressed butterfly. The teen carefully picked up Gabriel and took him to the nearest sink, making sure to use a drop of water to flush out the feverishly clicking insect’s eyes. He then proceeded to wash off the rest of the frosting, leaving Gabriel soggy but no longer in a sticky and painful situation. Gabriel ended up spending the rest of the party mentally grumbling to himself about his now green-tinted fuzz and trying to air out his damp, drooping wings.

 

_Damnit I look like fucking shamrock made of spite._

 

————-______________————

 

Nathalie stared contemplatively at the peacock Miraculous in her hand. Briefly, she considered using in, but she knew that she couldn’t put her health and life on the line like that. She was all but running her absent boss’ company since the stubborn bastard had refused to hire a board of directors and left most delegation to her in his will. That wasn’t even taking into account that fact that she was the last real safety net regarding Adrien’s care before the boy had to go to the foster system or some distant relative he barely knew. She’s like to think that maybe Mr. G could take up custody, but she knew the poor man would never be granted custody thanks to his lack of resources and relation to Adrien along with Gabriel failing to include the stoic, but kind bodyguard in his will (which, she supposed, was a somewhat reasonable decision). The police had found Gabriel’s secret lair, and they would likely find where Emilie was hidden any day now. Nathalie had to permanently seal off the entrance to the lair in the mansion so the police wouldn’t be able to directly trace it to the Agrestes.

 

Now, with evidence strongly suggesting that Mr. Agreste had gotten himself killed while using his Miraculous, Nathalie found herself filled with a bitter wariness towards the magical artifacts as a whole. They were obviously dangerous, and she silently cursed Mr. Agreste for being so reckless in his use of them. She could only hope that he was alive somewhere, perhaps injured or in a similar state so Mrs. Agreste, but alive nonetheless. Some small part of her acknowledged that she too had been a fool by putting herself on the line by using the Peacock Miraculous in the past. She would not be so weak as to succumb to temptation again. Briefly, she wondered what Adrien would think if he learned that his father was a supervillain and that he’d been effectively orphaned by both of his parents’ past use of the Miraculous. She sighed.

 

She had to make sure that no one else could get her hands on this Miraculous and face the same fate as her employers and, though she was loathe to admit it, the people she had begun to see as her family. There would be no more heartache because of the toxic mixture of magic and human folly.

 

Nathalie pocketed the glimmering blue brooch. She drove with speed and efficiency, weaving her way through the afternoon traffic. She drove until Paris disappeared into the distance. The buildings became sparser and the road less well-maintained. On, and on, she drove, well assured that Adrien was safe at a friend's house for the evening. He wouldn’t notice her little excursion if she made it back by morning. Before she knew it, she had driven to an isolated little beach.

 

Carefully, Nathalie picked her way through the rocks and sand and oatgrass. The stars twinkled above her, as cold and distant as Mr. Agreste had often been before he disappeared. Her ears were filled with the roar of the waves as their foamy tongues lapped at the shore. Occasionally, she could hear the sound of crickets. By the time Nathalie had made her way to the edge of the shore, her legs were aching and her shoes were full of sand. Exhausted, she sat down amongst the shells and salt, not caring if her slacks got damp or dirty. She pulled the Miraculous out of her pocket once more with a trembling hand.

 

“I’m sorry... I…. What am I doing, talking to a magical piece of jewelry? I’m not even sure if the creature that powers you is awake and aware… Well, it’s not like any of this matters… I…

heh… I didn’t know what I was getting into when I took this job, y’know… I thought the worst I’d have to deal with was whiny, demanding employers and loads of paperwork… not this arcane crap, not this family drama! I wasn’t supposed to get so attached, so… invested… I’d like to say that all I wanted to do was the right thing, but that’s not true… I was selfish, oddly enough in wanting to bring them happiness…

because I felt responsible for them and I liked to enjoy a bit of that happiness myself, even from a distance… I wasn’t thinking of the common good, or long-term consequences, or how many people would be hurt… I just enabled them… and then I began to participate in the fuckery myself...I suppose I could follow in Mr. Agreste’s footsteps and try to bring them both back, but I’m not stupid. I know where that road leads…. The company needs me, and Adrien needs me… Hell, maybe I need to get a little me-time while I’m at it! It’s so hard being the reasonable one, sometimes… well… Hopefully medicine can find a cure for Mrs. Agreste that somehow counteracts the magical damage done to her. Hopefully, Mr. Agreste is alive and the police find him. Hell, if he is alive and aware, that idiot will be on the receiving end of the tongue-lashing of the century! Shit… I… everything’s gotten so out of control…. I’m sorry… I have to do this, so no one else can misuse you, so no one else can get hurt…. I can only hope that, if you can hear me, that you’ll one day forgive me for condemning you… for what I’m about to do…”

 

Nathalie took a deep breath, steeled herself, and threw the Miraculous into the roiling waves with all her might. She watched the little stone peacock sink beneath the waves, a pained smile tugging at her lips. Her hands clutched at the edge of her sweater, and she let the tears fall down her cheeks. For the first time in months, she let herself cry. A complicated mess of emotions bubbled up in her cold, worn heart.

 

She wasn’t sure how, but she felt both relieved and regretful. She was oh, so very tired from carrying so many burdens, for keeping so many terrible truths locked up inside her. After an hour or so, Nathalie left the beach, leaving the Peacock Miraculous and many other things behind her.

 


	14. Gabriel is Up Shit Creek Without a Paddle

Days slipped by in an endless stream of light and color. The days grew longer and flowers bloomed all over Paris. While Gabriel was losing his grasp on his past and his understanding of the humans around him, he regained some of his energy in turn. Nino left during evenings to meet up with other heroes more and more often. Said superheroics was quickly becoming the only activity that the teenager did not bring petulant butterly along with him to. Gabriel could no longer understand what exactly the activities of the humans around him meant. Their antics ranged from being amusing to confounding and almost painful. He had been part of that world at some point, and now understanding of how human life worked and how he partook in it was just out of his mental reach, so tantalizingly close and yet so far.

 

Much to Gabriel’s chagrin, Nino had decided to drag him along to school. Gabriel personally didn’t remember much of what school was supposed to be, yet it still somehow managed to summon feelings of dread and annoyance from the recesses of his mind. He personally would have preferred basking in a sunbeam over joining the teen on this particular escapade, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to attempt to avoid or “argue” against the teen when he got excited. Nino was, certainly, quite excited to bring his “little buddy” to school with him after his previous disastrous attempt months ago.  

 

He simply decided to mentally (not literally due to the lack of a proper mouth, teeth, and facial muscles) grin and bear it until he got in a good enough spot to eat and take a nap. Then, it would be smooth sailing.

 

————-______________————

  
  


“Excuse me?! What did you just ask me to do?”, Chloe hissed irritably. 

 

“Well, like… I thought you could, like, apologize to my little buddy for nearly killing him. Now, I know it’s been, like, a super long time and all and you probably didn’t mean to almost totally kill him, but I think he’d appreciate it!”

 

_ Pssshhhtt like I’d appreciate an apology from that spoiled, pompous brat! I mean, it’s unlikely it’ll be genuine in the first place, anyways! Uhhhhh…. that’s what he’s asking for… right? It all sounds like a word salad to me! _

 

Nino swooped the butterfly up off of his shoulder, eliciting a surprised chirp from “Subwoofer”, and held the slightly flustered insect out to Chloe in the palm of his hand. Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and sighed loudly. Her gaze briefly flicked to “Subwoofer”, who was currently distracting himself by trying to touch one of his hindlegs to his little face. 

 

“Ugh… fine… whatever… I’m sorry for throwing a book at you… Subwoofer…. You… startled me.”

 

Nino shot the other teen a grateful and encouraging smile. Chloe scoffed and lightly patted the butterfly on the head with a perfectly manicured finger. 

 

_ Huh…. what’s going on? Ow… okay… Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to do that with my leg. I think I pulled a muscle…. Wait… Do I even have muscles? At least this head pat feels pretty nice…. Humph… I’d rather be asleep though. A nice long nap would be fucking fantastic, not to mention a break from all this accursed noise. I really wish I didn’t have so many nightmares… I also wish I had opposable thumbs! You never know what you have until it’s gone I guess… _

 

Gabriel fluttered his wings and quietly chirped and clicked to himself.

 

“Aww, look, I think he likes you! Thanks Chloe, Subbie probably, like, really appreciates your apology!”

 

“Psssshh…. He’s a bug! He probably doesn’t even understand us anyways!

 

“Thanks anyways, though!”

 

_ …. And not having to taste things with my feet… that was probably great! I could walk places without tasting whatever gross crap has touched the surface I’m standing on last! Oh, and the all liquid diet sure is easier to digest, but it’s severely limiting and I have to suck up everything through this unwieldy tube in my face! _

 

Chloe stalked out of the room, unsure of whether to laugh at the absurdity of the exchange or get offended and royally pissed off. She didn’t have much time to think about Nino and his “weird little bug”, though, as she spotted a familiar red-clad figure alighting upon the rooftop of a nearby building. 

 

She quickly dashed outside, her next class period wouldn’t be for another ten minutes and she could pull off fashionably late anyways in her opinion. Hastily, she climbed the fire escape to the brownstone apartment complex that her favorite heroine was currently occupying. Just as Ladybug was about to pull out her yoyo and swing to another building, Chloe cried out. 

 

“Ladybug, wait!”

 

“Oh! Chloe wha-”

 

“Why haven’t you asked for my most magnificent assistance in months? Months!”

 

“Your secret identity is non-existent, Chloe… the home address, family, and contact information of ‘Queen Bee’ is just a quick internet search away… Villains, criminals… most of them will do anything it takes to get an edge over you… Chloe… I don’t want them to go after your in your civilian life…”

 

Chloe huffed, tossing her ponytail over a shoulder, trying to ignore the cold lump of dread sinking in her gut.

 

“U-utterly ridiculous! I can handle whatever those… those posers throw at me!”

 

“Maybe you can, but could your friends, your family? Even if your parents are able to drum up security, they would have to live in constant fear of their protection one day failing… At least they have some ability to protect themselves… they’re wealthy and powerful adults… what about Sabrina? Hell, what about Adrien? Even if he managed to get adequate protection and wasn’t targeted himself, you getting hurt or even risking serious injury would hurt him immensely! Chloe…. Please… you can be a hero without risking your safety and the safety of the people who love you… go start a charity or start publicly lobbying for a good cause… put your money and influence into something that could save just as many or even more people than you could in costume… You can still be Queen Bee without fighting crime or superpowers or a costume!”

 

“I… okay… I’m still… totally upset that I can’t be a superhero in the traditional sense, but I get your point Ladybug… If you ever need to call on Queen Bee someday… I’d be honored to fight alongside you again…”

 

“Thank you, Chloe… For what it’s worth, I really am sorry… I wish you the best of luck.”

 

Ladybug gently patted the slightly tearful teen on the shoulder, giving her a small, consoling smile before swinging off into the distance. Chloe sighed and pulled her newly bedazzled phone from her pocket. She opened up her text conversation with her dad. She quickly responded to his messages, and began watching the clouds lazily drift across the horizon. Maybe she should consider those internships in local government offices that her dad suggested after all. 

  
  


————-______________————

 

_ This is my tree, mine! If you want to perch here, fuck off! Look at my wings! This is very intimidating fluttering! This is what an apex insect looks like! If you try and sit on my tree and eat the nectar from its flowers I will fuck you up! _

 

Gabriel flared out his wings and chirped forcefully, puffing out his fuzzy little chest. He was barely aware of the amused and vaguely distressed teen below him.

 

“Hey…. um…. little dude? Could you come down please? It’s getting kinda late…. errrr”

 

Nino briefly contemplated trying to climb up the tree to reach Gabriel, but decided against it. He did not want to risk injuring himself or his little butterfly friend. A small frown spread across his face as Gabriel continued to posture quite vocally from the tree branch he’d managed to climb up to and perch upon. Petals fell from the dark branch like damp, fragrant snow, decorating the pavement and Nino’s cap.

 

Nino rummaged through his bag, and found that he lacked any sugary substances to lure the butterfly away from the tree. In that moment, he regretted giving in to the butterfly’s pathetic chirping and “puppy-dog eyes”  that morning and giving the little guy all of his current supply. He sighed and whipped out his phone, and began rapidly typing. A few minutes later, the sound of sneakers smacking against pavement signaled Marinette’s approach. 

 

“Hey Nino! I got your text…. you need another re-supply?”

 

“Um…. yeah, I need something to calm my little dude down… he’s in one of his moods again, and like, I can’t wait this one out, the little guy can go for hours and I have an AA meeting… not to mention him passing out for exhaustion while up in a tree doesn’t seem safe or like… good for his health….”

 

“Well, you’re in luck! I had some overripe strawberries on standby…. Wow…. he’s really going at it, huh?”

 

The two teens looked up at butterfly, who was in the middle of a tirade and oblivious to the conversation just below his tarsi. He was whipped up into a frenzy, desperately trying to seem like a formidable opponent to any “ _ interlopers” _ that came near the tree that he’d claimed as his own. He could have sworn he’d seen a purple, vaguely butterfly shaped figure flitting by a passing woman, and he did not want that little shit or any other pollinator mooching off of his flowers and roosting in his tree. In his tiny little butterfly brain, securing his own steady food source and safe place to hide from predators was tantamount.

 

After a few moments of watching the strange butterfly’s enthusiastic display, Marinette pulled a tupperware filled to the brim with strawberries and a slightly wrinkled napkin out of her bag. Carefully placing a few of the strawberries on the napkin, she held the sugary snacks as close to the branch as she could. Nino began making clicking and whistling noises in a bid to attract “Subwoofer’s” attention to the food. 

 

_ Holy shit! What in the fresh hell is that noise? I…. Ohhhh…. What’s this? delicioussugarsugarfruityes _

 

Gabriel, his hunger and partiality towards fruit winning over his desire to defend his new “territory” from predators and other butterflies, leapt from the branch and clumsily tumbled into the teen’s outstretched hands. He snatched the slightly mushy strawberry with his forelimbs and began ravenously slurping up its sugary juices. 

 

“Pffftttt…. His little feet tickle…. He’s pretty adorable…”

 

“I know, right?”

 

“Anyways, how’s AA?

 

“Pretty sick, though… we don’t have as many new members since the akumatizations stopped last year… it’s hella weird how Hawkmoth just sorta… dropped off the face of the Earth… maybe he finally called it quits…”

 

“I hope so, for all our sakes….it’s been so peaceful… Sure there’s still mundane crimes the heroes have to deal with, but, hey, at least the city isn’t being terrorized by magic-wielding madman nearly every week... “

 

_ Whelp… I’m glad I don’t remember… whatever they’re talking about, I suppose…. Humans… so weird… can’t believe I used to be one…. I kinda miss it… I wonder if I actually knew any of these hatchlings back when I still had hands... and a nose… and stuff… eh, probably not, this Paris place seems to have quite a lot of humans…. _

 

Gabriel mentally shrugged, feeling briefly melancholic, before returning to his vigorous strawberry chow down.

 

Tikki discreetly watched the butterfly eat from the depths of Marinette’s bag, noting how Nino’s butterfly companion was acting notably less intelligent and unnervingly sapient than the last time she’d seen it. She knew that she could just be imagining things, but that insect had always seemed slightly off. For some reason, “Subwoofer” acting more like a normal butterfly (despite his slightly odd physical features) worried her more than the almost human-like mannerisms he’d once displayed quite frequently. Not to mention the creature reeked of an incredibly hopped up form of magic typically used to alter the mind and body of mortals, something that was woven into the spellwork used to create the Miraculous. Some small part of her entertained the ever more likely possibility of this butterfly not having always been a butterfly that was marked by magic due to being a familiar or innately magical beast. There hadn’t been a case of mortals being transformed into other species or… unspeakable things… as a result of harnessing the power of magic or magical beings like Kwamii in centuries, but it was still very much a possible explanation.

 

She’d have to ask Wayzz to keep an eye on him as best she could and discuss her musings with Marinette later. It would have to wait, though, Tikki and Marinette had bigger and nastier fish to fry. There were acts of violence and exploitation that had to be stopped before addressing what was merely suspicion and speculation.

 

Tikki sat amongst the books and loose change, mulling over the plans her human and the other heroes had created for busting another human trafficking operation. 

 

————-______________————

 

Wayzz stared serenely at the confused and slightly miffed butterfly in front of him. 

 

_ You’re another one of those floaty-things, aren’t you? How can you fly…. You don’t have wings??? Are we having a staring contest? What’s your deal?! Gah! You’re creeping me out…. It’s like you’re staring into my soul…. Hmmmm…. Do I even have a soul…. Y’know what! Now is not the time for another existential crisis. I already have those like… three times a week… C’mon Gabriel, focus! Floaty green creep! _

 

“Greeting, Subwoofer… Well, if that even is your true name… Nino has told me much about you… as have my fellow Kwamii… I apologize for not introducing myself earlier… I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

 

Wayzz held out one of his limbs expecting a friendly “handshake” or “fist-bump”(well, minus the actual hands). Gabriel gazed at the Kwami’s outstretched limb dumbly before making some confused clicking noises and gently batting at the green appendage.

 

_ What are you trying to pull here exactly green enigma? Are you trying to confuse me with your little nub arms?? I’m onto you…. _

 

Wayzz sighed and tried to look Gabriel in the eye, which was a little difficult due to Gabriel’s eyes taking up most of his head and lacking pupils. 

 

“My friend Tikki says that she suspects that your weren’t always a butterfly. Is this true?”

 

Gabriel mulled over his memories of his life, and upon recalling that he had been a human at one point, nodded vigorously. This had the effect of communicating an affirmation to Wayzz’s statement and making Gabriel rather dizzy.

 

“A-alright then…. Well…. My…. friends… and I will do what we can to return you to your original form, alright?”

 

_ I…. sure… moss-man… if you really think you and your buddies can do it… Also, what the fuck is a Tikki?? _

 

Gabriel awkwardly shifted from tarsus to tarsus and fluttered his wings. He was confused, but honestly hoped that whatever this creature was proposing could actually work. 

 

“I… we… can’t do anything tonight because we’ll be… helping some heroes out… presumably you already know that Nino is one of them…”

 

_ Ohhhhhh…. okay…. ummm I don’t quite get what you’re talking about regarding “heroes”, but sure… _

 

There was a sudden loud slam from outside the room. Gabriel, startled by the noise, sprinted into one of the larger, open satchels of Nino’s utility belt, which was laying on the desk Gabriel had been resting on moments ago. He curled up, into the deepest corner of the fabric container, his heartbeats pounding wildly in his head.

 

Soon after, Nino walked into the room, lugging a large speaker system into the room. He carefully placed the mechanical devices on the floor next to his desk.

 

“Aw, dude, I gotta be more careful when walking down that hallway, floor’s superrr slippery. Oh! Wayzz! What’s up little dude!”

 

“Oh, I was just introducing myself properly to your… pet… he’s quite the interesting insect!”

 

“Awesome, bro! So, like, it’s almost 6:30, are you ready to rumble, little dude?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Gnarly!”

 

Nino and Wayzz engaged in a quick, yet rather elaborate, handshake. Nino then put his belt on and held up his bracelet-ed wrist.

 

“WAYZZ, SHELL ON!”

 

————-______________————

  
  


All it had taken for the bust to turn sour was some misinformation and a handful of minor mistakes. The sheer amount of heavily armed goons waiting for them in the dingy warehouse where a crime ring was rumoured to be operating out of was staggering.

 

The fights in the first few makeshift rooms was brutal and tiring. While the teen heroes had managed to incapacitate and disarm all of their opponents, they’d racked up numerous injuries and their Kwamii’s magic was nearly spent. They’d have to heal before moving onward and, hopefully discretely de-transform and feed their Kwamii once they found a secure enough location in the claustrophobic maze of dingy hallways and junk. The air stunk of sweat, desperation, and gunpowder, suffocating the teens as the quickly ducked into a grimy alcove.

 

Ladybug yanked a bolt of fabric out of her utility belt and wrapped it around Chat’s heavily bleeding leg. She then moved on to her other teammates with less severe injuries, the heavily embroidered fabric she wrapped around the affected areas seemed to almost glow. Soon enough Chat found that his bullet wound had stopped hurting and bleeding profusely.

Carapace’s dislocated arm, Rena’s twisted ankle, and Drakaen’s broken nose righted themselves.

 

“We need to keep going,'' Ladybug hissed through clenched teeth while treating her own bruised side,”We can’t let them get our Miraculous and we can’t let the people they’ve taken down.”

 

The heroes attempted to get themselves back in order as they made their way further into the makeshift fortress of concrete, broken glass, and rusted metal. All the while, Gabriel lay curled up inside one of the satchels on Carapace’s belt, terrified out of his little mind. He didn’t exactly know what was going on, but the smell of blood and loud noises were definitely a bad sign. These humans really were in terrible danger, and as far as he knew there was nothing he could do to help them. He felt like a fragile leaf being tossed about in a hurricane of confusion, danger, and impotence. He was only one butterfly, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for updates taking longer than usual as of late. I'm dealing with a bit of writer's block along with a slightly busier schedule. (I'm also trying to build up to a climax/finale for this fic!) That being said, I hope y'all enjoyed reading this chapter!


	15. Gabriel Goes to the Florist

Kagami awoke to a pounding headache and grimy concrete against her face. The heat and humidity in the surrounding room made the surface she was currently laying on damp, almost as if it was sweating. Hastily, she tried to sit up and right herself and get a look at her surroundings. She strained futilely against the plastic zip ties binding her wrists. After blinking rapidly a few times to banish the blur and the glare in her vision she could make out four other figures stirring on the floor around her. The blonde figure flailed wildly.

****

**“** W-where am I? What are you guys doing here?? Where’s the other heroes?!”

****

“Holy shit! Adrien?!”

****

The figure that could now be quite clearly identified as Adrien stared slack-jawed at the other unfortunate occupants of the dingy room as Marinette mumbled inaudibly a few feet away from Kagami. Another figure, who Kagami recognized as Nino, perked up as a pensive look overtook his face. He gasped.

****

“Wait a second…dudes …. if I’m Carapace….  And we’re all tied up together… I’m pretty sure we’re all heroes, right?”

“Yep”

“Uh-huh”

“Guilty as charged”

“Same here”

****

All the teenage occupants of the room awkwardly nodded their head, still dazed, groggy, and dealing with the sudden secret identity bomb that had been dropped on them all. 

****

“This whole scenario is a fucking joke…. just like my life”

****

“Geez, lighten up a little”

****

“We’re tied up in a warehouse in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere…. I think she’s entitled to some negative vibes…”

****

Kagami groaned, gingerly massaging a nasty bruise on her temple as best she could. She was ready to break the bones of whoever likely gave her a concussion and tied up their group  like she broke national fencing records. 

****

“Oh boy…. head trauma…oh…. my miraculous… it’s gone...”

****

Everyone else in the room hastily checked their persons and found that each of their respective Miraculous was missing. Marinette scowled, quietly huffed, and then rapidly brought her bound arms down against her lower abdomen, snapping the zip-ties. She then reached inside her cleverly hidden belt, while trying not to wince at her raw bruised wrists, and produced a rather large box-cutter. Alya stared owlishly at the intimidating implement.

****

“Mari, girl…. what the hell do you need such a huge box cutter for.”

****

“I find it rather helpful when working with particularly durable fabrics… also… I have trouble opening boxes on my own…”

****

Both teens awkwardly shrugged as Marinette made her way to each of her friends and used the box cutter to saw through each person’s zip ties. Eventually, all the teens were freed from their bindings and were trying to dispel any soreness or pins-and-needles from their hands and wrists. Soon, they began scouring the room for an exit. The only way in or out of the room, they soon deduced, was an incredibly rusty door that was ill-fitted to the frame it had been unceremoniously shoved into. Said door proved to be locked and too heavy for even the combined efforts of the teens to break. 

****

After a few moments of trying desperately not to panic and attempting to come up with an escape plan, a quiet clicking could be heard from a pouch on Nino’s belt. Nino opened the pouch to investigate, and ‘Subwoofer’ clumsily fluttered out in all his colorful insectoid glory. 

****

For a few moments, the teens stood, bewildered at the sudden presence of a grumpy and slightly ansty butterfly. 

****

_ I… Where am I? Where are we?? Why does the ground taste so shitty here? Ow… yep… stiff legs… it’s definitely not the exoskeleton… I think I’m cramping from sitting for too long… er…. what’s everybody looking at… is it my wings? I mean, I know they’re magnificent and much more impressive than what you’d find on you average, run of the mill butterfly! _

****

With some slightly exhibitionsitic wing fluttering, Gabriel tried to awkwardly stretch his tiny, segmented legs to dispel any aches or stiffness in his joints. In the meantime, Nino knelt down and gently picked him up, eliciting a surprised and slightly indignant chirp from the butterfly.

****

“Aw geez, little dude… what are you doing here? You should be, like, at home safe and taking a nice nap or whatever… this place is wayyy too dangerous for a little guy like you!”

****

_ Aha! Nice human, provider of food and fresh bedding! You seem to know what you’re doing! If you can understand me in anyway… get me out of this dump, please, it smells awful and the drab colors seem to indicate an alarming lack of… plants and food and stuff…  _

****

The fuzzy little butterfly clicked and wiggled his damaged antennae in some vain attempt at communication, before awkwardly sitting down in Nino’s palm soaking in what little body heat he could from the teen. The room was getting rather chilly, and the cold would sink through his exoskeleton and leave him lethargic and weak. He rapidly vibrated his wings in order to keep the hemolymph flowing through their fragile membranes and prevent his muscles from getting stiffer than they already were. 

****

“W-what’s Nino’s pet butterfly doing here?”

****

“Hell if I know… the little fella seems to be surprisingly good at hiding for such a… vivacious… character…”

****

“Oh, I think he’s shivering, poor thing…”

****

While everyone was trying to make sense of the sudden butterfly-shaped wrench thrown into any possible plans, a spark of inspiration alighted in Marientte’s mind. She rapidly began mentally outlining a potential plan, pulling pens, paint, and duct tape from a pouch her utility belt. 

****

“Guys, I think I’ve figured out a way for us to escape and get out Miraculous back!”

****

Everyone’s collective gaze snapped over to Marinette, who was already writing runes and spells onto small squares of duct tape.

****

“With a proper spell combination I can weaken the door by sticking the duct tape to it. Once the door is sufficiently weakened, we can bust through!”

****

“Yeah, but, what if there’s guards outside and what if we can’t find our Miraculous and end up getting recaptured or… worse…”

****

“That’s where Subwoofer comes in… we can use him as a living tracking device by placing a spell on him that acts like a magical homing beacon. He’ll have his cognitive abilities enhanced so he can sense magic and locate the hotbed of magic a Miraculous generates undetected, and once he finds them… one of us will have a spell temporarily linking us to him so we can track his whereabouts.”

****

The heroes all ruminated on the idea before agreeing to give the plan a shot, as no one else could come up with a better plan. After figuring out the exact spellwork needed, the teens set to work on painting and writing the necessary runes. When Marinette moves to paint “Subwoofer”, Nino hesitated slightly in handing over the slightly oblivious butterfly, who had gotten his foreleg tangled in his proboscis and was trying to free it.

****

“It’s not, like, gonna hurt him or anything, right?”

****

“Don’t worry, Nino, the paint is non-toxic and can be easily washed off with water and a gentle soap… and the magic itself will be painless, heck, with a base nervous system as simplistic as his, it might even temporarily improve his cognition and sensory abilities.”

****

Nino gently stroked Gabriel’s head between the bases of his antennae, which resulted in the irritable insect relaxing significantly, splaying out his wings and letting out a delighted chirp. While the butterfly was distracted by his head getting patted, Marinette quickly and precisely painted runes on the sections of his abdomen and thorax. She then painted a similar set of runes on her own hand, so she could directly track his location.

****

_ Hey, that’s cold! Eh, I’d normally object, but life is a pointless exercise in futility and I need a nap. _

****

When Marinette activated the spell, a fizzy feeling washed over Gabriel’s body, making his head feel like TV static. New lights and colors suddenly entered his field of view. Certain objects radiated greater amounts or different colors of light than others. Some objects seemed to be tied to people or other objects by thin strands of light. In the corner of his vision, there was a nearly blinding, radiant beacon. Gazing into it filled Gabriel’s vision with writhing and shimmering things and multitudes of colors his mind couldn’t even begin to process or fully understand. If everything else around him was a candle, then whatever the beacon originated from was like a star. Entranced by the magical beacon, Gabriel hopped off of Nino’s hand and glided towards the beacon, sliding under the rapidly rusting and groaning door. Everything else seemed trivial in comparison to the beacon. The places and things around him did not even register in his mind as it was solely occupied by the beacon and how he might reach it.

****

Eventually he made his way into a room filled with strange objects that seemed to be the source of the beacon.

****

Gabriel knew that the artifacts before him were important, but he wasn’t sure why. He knew that he desperately wanted, perhaps even needed them. His simple little mind focused on them. Yes, they were very important. Perhaps they could even restore his memories and old body if he were to keep them to himself.

****

_ I could try and find out how to use such immense power...No! I think… those…hatchling-pupas... need them! I-if I take them and leave...then… I’m pretty sure something terrible will happen to the hatchling-pupas…. I may be a stupid sack of shit, but I have enough common sense to figure that out...Heh… I’m not even sure I could carry more than one anyways without seriously hurting myself… I don’t want to know if it’s physically possible for a butterfly to pull a back muscle. _

****

Gabriel ambled over and attempted to sit amongst the Miraculous and make himself comfortable while hunkered down and waited for the teen heroes to find him and the Miraculous. Suddenly, tiny floating figures emerged from the artifacts. The recently emerged Kwamii and Gabriel awkwardly stared at each other for a few moments before the Kwamii started talking amongst themselves. Gabriel, unable to understand most of their conversation, was content to sit around, staring into space, and occasionally fluttering his wings so they wouldn’t get stiff or stuck in an awkward position.

****

_ Yeah, I’ll just sit here… with these weird floaty-things… and lead those hatchling-pupas to them… It’s easy! Hell...If I can’t do it then my name isn’t... oh... oh no…friendconfusionscared…? colorbrightcolorfriend…? saferoostfoodgoodsafe? _

****

And with that, the man known as Gabriel Agreste was well and truly gone, leaving a scared and confused butterfly with some remnants of his personality in his wake. He felt his mind unravelling around him like old, worn thread.

****

He gazed at the Kwamii around him, uncomprehending and afraid. Some primal part of his little brain registered their blurry floating shapes as other, friendly insects. He fluttered his wings and lightly bumped his head and what was left of his antennae against them. Tikki quietly gasped in dismay as she realized what the sudden shift in the butterfly’s behavior meant. 

****

The Kwamii all made sure to keep him occupied with bright colors and movement as best they could until their holders arrived. Hopefully, enough remnants of the insect’s former, human mind could be salvaged so he wouldn’t be returned to his human state nearly braindead. 

****

After a while, the door to the room suddenly showed signs of sudden rust and deterioration, and it was busted open. The group of teen heroes streamed in, and grabbed their respective Miraculous. Once all the Kwamii were properly fed and cared for, the teens all transformed and began formulating a plan to escape and rescue as many civilians as possible. While the team was planning, Nino knelt down and held his hand out in front of “Subwoofer” who was mindlessly wandering about. The butterfly climbed onto his hand and up his arm, fascinated by the bright green of his costume. 

****

“You did an awesome job, little dude. I’m totally gonna give you extra fruit when we get home, broski… huh… you’re acting a little strangely… ah you must be, like, totally tuckered out, dude.”

****

The butterfly gave the teen a vacant stare before chirping and ambling up into the young hero’s hair, which was one of the highest places to be in the room and fairly warm. Nino shrugged and went back to planning with his friends and teammates.

****

————-______________————

****

The butterfly did not know or care about what happened outside of his little world. When he was hungry, he ate from whatever brightly colored thing that tasted sweet under his feet. When he was dirty, he groomed himself using the nearest body of water he could find. When there was something warm or a bright light, he moved towards it and basked in its radiance. When it was cold and dark, he slept. Something deep inside him ached like an old wound, but nothing seemed to ease that pain. 

****

Sometimes he encountered strange levitating creatures. At first they made weird noises at him, but after a while they kept their screeching to themselves. They seemed friendly, but the butterfly was often too tired to deal with their antics. He was, after all, at the advanced age of over a year old.

****

In his dreams, he felt something reaching out to him like the big-creatures did when they wanted to move him or have him perch on them. He liked the big creatures, even if they were beyond his tiny mind’s comprehension. They seemed like invincible giants or large, sturdy plants, shielding him from danger and giving him food. He moved towards the thing that was reaching to him, registering it as another big-thing-that-can-help. He was cold, but the big-thing was warm and bright and had many moving branches like a tree in the wind. 

****

_ SafefriendprotectBrightgoodsunNewstrangewarmhomehomehomehomehomehomehomehomehomesafe _

****

The big-thing reached out and wrapped him in one of its many radiant limbs. The butterfly felt like his entire body was burning, like his exoskeleton was too tight. As bits and pieces of the butterfly’s body began to flake off and drift away like sparks and hot ash from an open fire, he woke up. He felt incredibly disoriented and everything felt strange and wrong. Upon trying to stand, he toppled over and off of the windowsill he’d been sleeping on into the bushes lining the sidewalk below. Prying himself from the bushes, the butterfly tried not to panic at his sudden loss of his sense of taste. No matter how much he ran his clumsy limbs over an object, he couldn’t get even the slightest hint of flavor from them. That wasn’t even going into how he seemed to be missing his entire exoskeleton and wings. The dazed and confused ex-butterfly awkwardly loped off into the chilly night air in search of food. The wind was cold and the pavement rough against his chitin-less hands and feet. He didn’t know who or  _ what  _ he was, but he did know he was hungry and that  _ brightcolorflowernectar _ would satiate that hunger.

****

————-______________————

****

When someone goes missing for such a long stretch of time, people start expecting to find a body despite hoping the missing is alive and well somewhere. No one could have predicted Gabriel Agreste being found crouched naked on the counter of a florist’s shop, trying to eat the merchandise.

****

 The employee who was scheduled to open the shop that dreary morning was quite surprised to encounter the bedraggled man clumsily plucking at hydrangeas and poppies, oblivious to his stunned observer. The poor florist let out a strangled yelp, as Gabriel popped handfuls of the flowers into his mouth like candy, and pulled out their phone with slightly trembling hands. Soon enough, authorities arrived, and Gabriel was promptly carted off to the hospital.

****

At some point someone had covered him with a blanket to preserve his modesty and guided his unsteady form to an ambulance. Clumps of slightly crushed flower petals had to be gently pried from his dirty, scraped hands. He spent most of the ride to the hospital staring at his own hands, gingerly moving each finger as if he was afraid they’d disappear. He seemed to be in generally good health, aside from potential mild poisoning from the flowers, two missing fingers on one of his hands, and some strange scars.

****

Pale, almost silvery, lines arcing across his back and slashing across his arms. A small, oval-shaped scar sat just below his collar bone. He had large, curving scars on his sides just below his ribcage. A starburst-shaped scar rested above his left eye, slightly bisecting his eyebrow.

****

His hair was unkempt, and his face was more haggard than it had been before he had disappeared. He was still identifiable, though. 

****

What worried the police officers, and later, medical staff who handled him was his inability to walk bipedally without assistance and lack of response to questioning. Whenever someone spoke to him, he’d look at them, indicating that he could in fact hear them, but he never seemed to comprehend what they were saying. All he did was stare blankly at whomever had spoken to him last as he fiddled with the hem of his hospital gown. While doctors attempted to treat him and authorities tried to contact Nathalie, Gabriel kept attempting to stand on all fours on his hospital bed. His attempts only resulted in him getting his legs tangled up in his gown and the pale teal bed-sheets and him toppling over. After his first few attempts, doctors resorted to gently pushing him back down into a position less likely to result in a sudden fall and (to their suspicions, further) brain injury. Before long, Gabriel started to look a little green around the gills. The doctors quickly called for a nurse to bring relevant equipment for testing and… cleanup… things were going to get very messy, very fast thanks to Gabriel’s consumption of various floral arrangements a short time ago.

****

————-______________————

****

That morning, Nathalie had been handling her best-kept secret (aside from the whole exsupervillain thing). She gingerly unwrapped the unmarked package that had arrived on her doorstep. There, nestled amongst the packing peanuts, was a mint-condition copy of “Con-Air”. Nathalie cradled the DVD package as if it was an immensely valuable piece of fine china. Then, she nestled “Con-Air” between her copies of “Wickerman” and “Face-off”. 

****

_ I can’t wait to watch Con-Air with some sweet, sweet coffee. I need to treat myself…. I need to unwind and whatnot…. Aw, hell, why don’t I just dust off my copies of the Ghost Rider duology while I’m at it! Adrien won’t get out of school for another four hours and I’ve made a good dent in my paperwork shit-fest.  _

****

Nathalie grinned mirthfully, as her fingers brushed against the laminated spines of those iconic demonic biker movies. The lead in those movies and much of the films in her incredibly well-kept living room shelf was the man, the myth, the legend, Nicolas Cage. She had been maintaining an extensive collection of the actor’s filmography for well over a decade at this point. The man’s performances of varying quality amused her, and she liked to watch his work for primarily ironic purposes or for the “so bad it’s good, experience”. A good chuckle went along way in regards to helping her decompress after a long, stressful day of slogging through mountains of paperwork and babysitting the Agreste’s either literally or figuratively. Even before he became a supervillain, Mr. Agreste wasn’t exactly the best at planning ahead or taking safety into account, and Mrs. Agreste had been similar in her recklessness before she fell ill. There was a reason that Nathalie still had multiple fire extinguishers, first aid kits, (secretly installed) safety nets, inflatable rafts, and “retrieval sticks” on standby for the next inevitable “Agreste Incident”. Nathalie had to admit that they were all nincompoops, but they were her nincompoops and Nathalie had been the ride or die type ever since high school. On occasion, Nathalie found herself missing Mr. Agreste’s antics almost as much as she missed the man himself, but, as always, she tried to force her personal feelings to the wayside and keep moving forward. As the sole beneficiary of Mr. and Mrs. Agreste’s estates and Adrien’s legal guardian until Adrien was of age, she had to keep things functioning like a well oiled machine regardless of whether she was tired or frustrated or grieving. There was a company to keep afloat and finances to manage and a child to raise and a missing person’s investigation to keep tabs on. She was well versed in the art of choking down one’s feelings and shoving them deep inside oneself so that they would never see the light of day. Her personal opinions were as deeply buried beneath the calm waters of her mind as the passageway from the Agreste mansion to Hawkmoth’s lair was buried underneath several miles of concrete and dirt. 

****

All of a sudden, Nathalie could hear the slightly muted chiming of her phone’s ringtone from her purse on the coffee table next to her. She quietly sighed at the interruption from her afternoon plans and musings. 

****

When she’d picked up that call, Nathalie had been expecting information from a business associate or some miniscule update in Mr. Agreste’s case. She did not expect to be notified that he had been found, very much alive and wreaking minor havoc in a flower shop.

****

Nathalie stared at the road ahead of her, weaving through traffic in hazy autopilot. She held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip, her nails leaving indents in the wheel’s dark leather cover. All she could do was force herself to remain calm and focus on the asphalt ahead of her. Deep down she was reeling, a strange combination of relief and apprehension whirling about her mind. Mentally, she tried to organize every course of action she’d need to take depending on Mr. Agreste’s condition. 

****

_ Step 1: Asses the Situation _

_ Step 2: Contact Adrien and inform him of his father’s condition _

_ Step 3: Discuss options with Authorities and the company's PR team _

_ Step 4: Weather the media shitstorm _

_ Step 5: Make sure Mr. Agreste doesn’t disappear off the face of the Earth again _

_ Step 6(Optional): Read Mr. Agreste the Riot Act _

****

A lot of the specifics of her plans would have to be decided upon later. Things like Adrien’s custody and company management hinged on Mr. Agreste being in good enough condition physically and mentally to resume his previous duties. Nathalie supposed that even if her employer and ( _ sorta)  _ comrade regained legal custody of Adrien  and ownership of the company, her routine wouldn’t need to change all that much. She could still accompany Adrien on his way to school in the morning and eat dinner and breakfast with him. She could still keep a close eye on the company's assets and ensure all the finances and policies were in order. In hindsight, Nathalie supposed that she had already been handling the majority of Mr. Agreste’s responsibilities before he disappeared. If Mr. Agreste wasn’t capable of handling his legal assets and raising his teenage son, then Nathalie would assure he’d either be returned to as much of his old self as possible or given a safe and comfortable retirement. No matter how things played out, though, Nathalie know she’d have her work cut out for her.

****

What worried her most was how she would handle the media and the police. She’d need to create a narrative that would portray the Agreste family and herself as sympathetically as possible and ensure the police stayed off their backs. 

****

————-______________————

****

Gabriel was curled up in a ball, alternating between retching and whimpering, his matted hair plastered against his pale face. An unflappable nurse held a plastic basin in front of his face whenever he hacked up a foul-smelling cocktail of stomach acid and assorted plant matter. His hospital gown was already as much of a disheveled mess as he was. Doctors had already inserted an IV into Gabriel’s arm to keep him hydrated, which had been met with glares and indignant squirming. 

****

Occasionally he’d stare wide-eyed at his surroundings, his brow furrowed in confusion. Eventually, the slight creak of an opening door and the clacking of hard-soled shoes against the shiny tile floors broke the relative quiet. 

****

Lying in that hospital bed, Gabriel looked alarmingly small and vulnerable. He simply lay there, staring off into the distance with a puzzled look on his face. Nathalie felt like there was a terrible weight laying on her shoulders as she tried to muster something to say to him. 

****

“Mr. Agreste, I…”

****

Gabriel’s gaze flicked toward her, lacking even the slightest glimmer of recognition or comprehension. The two awkwardly stared at each other until the silent tension was broken by Gabriel’s stomach audibly growling. Nathalie then realized that neither of them had blinked before their interruption. After some deliberation on the part of the doctors, a nurse came in with a bowl of mild lukewarm soup in an attempt to see if Gabriel could stomach actual food. Nathalie desperately hoped that he could, as she did not want to have to handle potentially feeding her former employer through a tube. Upon being given the bowl of soup, Gabriel suck out his tongue and dunked his whole face into the broth and soggy vegetables. Everyone in the room could hear a quiet slurping coming from Gabriel’s partially submerged face. Moments later he lifted his face from the bowl with a self-assured grin and the leaves of some kind of herb plastered to his cheek. 

****

Nathalie pulled a notebook out of her purse and began to make a list.

****

**Cons**

**-Competency: Negligible**

**-Apparent amnesia and impaired speech (possible aphasia or mutism, need to consult doctors and run more tests)**

**-Increase in lack of awareness as shamelessness**

****

**Pros**

**-Still enjoys soup**

**-Still breathing**

**-Retains basic brain function and insufferable personality**

**-face mostly intact (fairly minor scars can be presented to the media as either cool or tragic depending on PR slant)**

****

————-______________————

****

“Dude… I couldn’t find Subbie this morning and his habitat was utterly wrecked! I’m super worried that a wild animal, like, broke into my room and ate him…”

****

Alya gave Nino a sympathetic look and squeezed his hand.

****

“It’s totally understandable that you’re worried… I suppose there really wasn’t any other reason since the weather was calm last night and Subwoofer certainly wasn’t strong enough to do something like that himself…”

****

“Yeah… I really miss the little dude, and I hope wherever he is he’s totally happy… I just wish I knew for certain… I guess I knew he’d kick it some time in the near future, especially since he is… was really old for a butterfly… I just wasn’t ready for it to be so soon and so sudden… like… I wanted to have some more sick jam sessions together and, like, let him know how much I appreciated him… given my little buddy a proper send-off and all that jazz…”

****

Nino choked back a sob, pulling out a tiny photo album filled with printed pictures of “Subwoofer”. A good portion of the pictures featured the butterfly in various locations with Nino or wearing cute make-shift costumes. The teen’s eyes lingered on a photo of himself holding the butterfly, who was hesitantly sticking out his proboscis, up to a cup of strawberry ice creamz

****

“He was such a cute little dude… a tiny homie with a heart of gold, man…”

****

Alya gently patted Nino on the back and handed him a tissue from a box she’d somehow managed to fit inside her purse. Meanwhile, Adrien tried to approach his distressed friend and comfort the other teen. Sadly, he was intercepted by a slightly abnormally  pale Ms. Bustier, who promptly told him that Nathalie had called the school office and requested a private phone call. A slightly stunned Adrien, nodded in compliance and made his way to the office. Moments after he’d left, Marinette stumbled in to class mere seconds before the bell rang, missing Adrien entirely as she made a bee-line for her seat. Marinette, along with the rest of the class alternated between focusing on a clearly distraught Nino and Adrien’s sudden absence. 

****

Adrien ambled through the empty hallways, the sound of his footsteps reverberating in the thick stifling silence. A quiet whisper emanated from Adrien’s bag as he walked. 

****

“Do you think you’ll be okay, kid?”

****

“Yeah, Plagg… I can handle this…  Even if it’s news about…”

****

Adrien cut himself off before he could continue halting his train of consciousness. He was standing in front of the office doors. Some students might have been intimidated by them, by Adrien had stood in the shadow of doors that loomed far higher and cast a much darker shadow. He tried not to remember how many times he’d stalled outside his father’s door, caught in a limbo of apprehension and desperation. Far too often, he’d been afraid to open that door. 

****

Plagg gently placed a comforting paw on Adrien’s back before making himself scarce. Adrien slid into the room and was met with a Damocles who had an unreadable look on his face. As the man left the room, he gave Adrien a tiny nod. The terrifying unknown loomed over Adrien as he picked up his phone and called Nathalie. 

****

“H-hello? Nathalie?”

****

“Oh, Adrien! Thank goodness… you were very… punctual… I… have something very… important... to tell you… please keep this secret until you’re given the go ahead. Your father… he was found alive…”

****

Adrien felt like his heart had sprung into his throat.

****

“A-alive… he…. father’s alive? Can I see him?”

****

“Yes, but, Adrien… he might not… recognize you…”

****

Adrien sat in the chair, slumped over like his muscles had turned into jelly, cradling the phone in his hand. Dread sat heavy and cold in his stomach conflicting with the joy he felt at learning of his father’s survival.

****

“What do you mean? I… oh god… does he have brain damage or something?”

****

Nathalie’s voice sounded brittle, quietly hissing from the phone’s speakers.

****

“The doctors aren’t sure what’s wrong with him, he seems to be healthy aside from some food poisoning and scarring, but… he’s largely unresponsive. He hasn’t shown any recognition when I’ve spoken to him or when he’s been shown images of you or… your mother… or any of his relatives or friends.”

****

 Adrien’s heart plummeted as the conversation went on. His father didn’t seem to know who he was. His father didn’t seem to know his own name. The reason for his father’s disappearance and current state was still unknown. 

****

Adrien begged to have the chance to see his father as soon as possible. He didn’t think he could sit in class and act like everything was normal. Nathalie arrived to pick him up and excuse his absence for the rest of the school day surprisingly quickly. Her expression was grim and her hands shook slightly throughout her exchange with Damocles and the near silent walk to her car. The skin around her eyes were tight and her lips were pressed thin. Silence sat thick and heavy between Nathalie and Adrien during the car ride to the hospital. Both of them tried not to dwell too hard on how they’d developed a fairly comfortable, almost cheerful dynamic with each other in the absence of Adrien’s parents. 

****

Soon enough, they’d arrived at the hospital and had made their way to the room Gabriel was being kept in. Before they entered, Nathalie gently laid a hand on Adrien’s shoulder, and glanced at his nervous face. 

****

“Even… even if your father doesn’t have any memory of you… there’s still a chance to make new memories with him, even if it hurts to know that things will never be quite the same…”

****

Adrien nodded and walked through the door, and was met by the unfamiliar sight of his father blowing raspberries at no one in particular. The teen watched in awe and terror as Gabriel kept up one continuous “raspberry” for over a minute before falling back onto his pillow out of breath, seemingly fascinated by his own ability or produce such a strange noise. Adrien couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his father genuinely smiling or not having his hair slicked back so far it was singing “Grease Lightning”. 

****

Gabriel then noticed Adrien’s presence, made a chirping noise at him, and gave a clumsy approximation of a friendly hand-wave that he’d seen doctors and nurses do. Adrien gave him a tentative smile, unsure of how to react to his father being anything but curt and emotionally distant with him ever since his mother disappeared. Despite Gabriel’s fairly amiable response, his expression showed no recognition of Adrien and simply seemed to be an attempt at acknowledging a new person’s presence in a generally welcoming manner. Awkwardly, Adrien returned the wave.

****

Nathalie came into the room a few moments later.

****

“Adrien, your father is going to be kept here at the hospital overnight, but we can hopefully bring him back home by tomorrow. I’m trying to… iron out what exactly our course of action should be going forward regarding your father’s… current condition.”

****

Adrien nodded and opened his mouth, almost as if to say something, but he seemed to reconsider and closed it once more. It was going to be a long day.

————-______________————

****

The evening slipped sluggishly into morning, Adrien tossed and turned in his bed, plagued by nightmares of his father hurt and alone, crying out for help that would never come. Meanwhile, Nathalie sat both exhausted and restless through several cups of coffee and frenzied phone calls to lawyers, doctors, and the police. Updates from doctors deepened the pit of dread in Nathalie’s stomach. Mr. Agreste wouldn’t chew food offered to him, simply letting solids sit in his mouth when spoon-fed. He was more receptive to liquids and sweet or mushy foods, and evidence seemed to indicate that he’d been on a liquid-only diet for at least a few months. X-rays revealed that numerous bones had been broken and shoddily healed at some point in the recent past, likely impairing his movement. He exhibited little to no comprehension of French or any other language he had been exposed to in his lifetime, although he made strange vocalizations like clicking, chirping, and trilling when engaged in excessive social interaction. Brain scans revealed no obvious signs of damage outside of some fairly minor if uncommon abnormalities. He would seemingly reflexively stick out his tongue when hungry, was missing three molars, and frequently tried to climb on top of any furniture that was taller than his chest height. The more anyone tried to shed light on or diagnose the cause of his condition, more strange factors popped up, making his state ever more puzzling. 

****

Eventually, morning came, and Nathalie had long since begun preparations for caring for and transporting Gabriel, not to mention the PR spin. She’d found multiple therapists she could hire that would visit the mansion and remain tight-lipped and discreet about Gabriel’s condition unless given express permission. Police and reporters had agreed to only interview Gabriel once he had recovered and adjusted enough to give comprehensive answers. Any media announcements about his re-appearance and state would be delayed a few days to ensure the Agreste mansion wasn’t immediately hounded by reporters and any interviews she gave would emphasize the need for privacy and compassion for the Agrestes in this tumultuous time. 

****

Nathalie carefully packed some spare clothes in a duffel bag to provide rudimentary disguises ensure Gabriel was presentable and somewhat comfortable. The clothes intended for Gabriel lacked buttons, zippers, or laces so he wouldn’t struggle or get confused should he somehow manage to dress himself. Together, she and Adrien traveled to the hospital with little fanfare and great apprehension. 

****

Once they arrived, Gabriel was quickly as discreetly discharged and Nathalie was given some basic care instructions he would need as an outpatient. By the time Nathalie had finished ironing out any remaining paperwork and a rough rehabilitation and treatment regimen, Gabriel had been dressed and escorted out of his hospital room. He’d been seated in a wheelchair and was awkwardly grimacing and rubbing at the lightly bandaged arm that he’d had the IV needle inserted into. 

****

Gabriel was quickly and quietly wheeled out the back entrance of the hospital to a secure and inconspicuous vehicle. All parties involved wore some sort of disguise, except for the driver, who was waiting in the car. Nathalie wore a long auburn wig and sunglasses atop an uncharacteristically casual floral-printed shirt and lime green skirt. Adrien was wearing a hoodie and desperately trying to keep Gabriel from removing and trying to investigate the wide-brimmed hat that had been placed on his head. Somehow, the group managed to make their way to the hospital parking lot without being recognized. There, waiting for them was an ugly but inconspicuous mini-van with a drab olive paint job and slightly faded wooden paneling that Nathalie had rented the night before. It was cramped and smelled like vinegar and tobacco, but it was significantly less recognizable and attention grabbing than a limousine or company car. 

****

The small cool metal of the key pressed into Nathalie’s hand as she unlocked the vehicle and opened the doors. Behind her, Adrien was attempting to explain the concept of hats and other accessories to his baffled and somewhat fascinated father. Adrien had eventually figured out that after pointing at an object and repeating its name, he could get Gabriel to follow suit. While Gabriel still didn’t seem to have much of a grasp of what Adrien’s explanations meant, he was still recognizing words and could identify objects, which was somewhat encouraging. Gabriel let out a perturbed yelp when Nathalie carefully lifted him out of the wheelchair he was occupying and placed him in one of the backseats of the vehicle. He scowled and quietly hissed in protest when she buckled him in and prevented him from putting the seat belt buckle in his mouth. Adrien awkwardly slipped through the opposite door and buckled himself in, unsure of how to react to his father actually hissing at someone. Nathalie sighed as she got in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, eyeing the now slightly cool half-empty cup of coffee she’d left sitting in the slightly oversized cup-holder behind the lever for the emergency brake. She turned on the car, and the vehicle let out a guttural growl. In the backseat, Gabriel whimpered and pulled his shaking knees up to his chest at the sudden loud noise and movement. His face noticeably paled as he frantically whipped his head about, looking for the non-existent predator that he assumed was in his general vicinity and about to devour him along with his companions.

****

Fear slid down Gabriel’s throat, clammy and cold, and made its home in his chest. It tore at his lungs with its claws and squeezed his heart into lhe felt like it would burst. Tears sprung from his eyes as his shaking hands clung to his unsteady legs. Everything around him was strange and the loud, unfamiliar growling noise still rang in his ears. The whirlwind of emotions he might have felt the past few hours were it not for the hazy blanket of shock, that had suddenly been ripped away, flooded his mind. His body felt unfamiliar and ill fitting, like he was shambling about in the body of a stranger. He’d been poked and prodded and assaulted by a barrage of unfamiliar sights and sounds and smells. Strange people made strange noises at him and only now was he begging to understand that the noises referred to objects, leaving him with only a fragile meager grasp of basic language in a world that relied on it. 

****

Gabriel was pulled out of his panic by the feeling of someone gently placing a hand on his shoulder. A familiar face bearing a frown and furrowed brows registered in his blurry vision. The person next to him was making quiet, soothing sounds. Gabriel felt like his exo-, endo-, or whatever skeleton he had now had vanished as he slumped over, leaning into a hesitant but comforting embrace. Tears fell burning down his sallow face. Gabriel shamelessly and openly wept in the embrace of the child he could no longer recognize as his son. Perhaps at some point he might have scorned the thought of displaying his distress so blatantly, unquestioningly accepting comfort, but all pretense of aloofness had been thrown out the window with enough force to clear the Earth’s atmosphere. Gabriel then noticed the strange object that had been placed on his head had been knocked off at some point during his emotional outpouring. He awkwardly leaned over and tried to pick it up, mumbling the sound that seemed to represent it.

****

“Hat..”

****

Sadly, he couldn’t reach it. Still, moments later he felt the soft material of the accessory in his hand, as the teen had retrieved it and given it to him. 

****

The teen looked pensively at the had before something gleamed in his eyes. Then he slowly gestured to himself 

****

“Adrien”

****

It took Gabriel a moment, but understanding dawned on him. He pointed at the boy.

****

“Ay… dree… ehn,” he hesitantly repeated.

****

“Aydriehn?”

****

Adrien beamed and nodded enthusiastically. He then pointed at the woman sitting in front of them.

****

“Nathalie”

****

“Nah…htha… lee?”

****

The words fell slow and heavy from Gabriel’s mouth as he tried to imitate the sounds Adrien was making. He felt rather proud of himself for managing to string together the sounds needed to make the names rather accurately (at least, in his opinion). He realized that different people had different names much like different items had different names. Nathalie’s gaze flicked back towards her passengers, and she let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. The smile that had now formed awkwardly on Gabriel’s thin face matched that of the now ecstatic teen sitting next to him. 

****

Adrien then carefully gestured towards Gabriel, himself. 

****

“Gabriel”

****

Gabriel blinked and cocked his head to the side before awkwardly placing his hand on his chest. 

****

“G… ayb… ree… ehl?”

****

Adrien nodded, and his smile seemed a little sad in that moment. 

****

“Gabriel”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the delay. Things have been busy lately and I was struggling a bit with how to execute this chapter. Although this is the end of the initial fic, I do have plans for a potential sequel.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment. 8 )


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